Kenton Jermaine Keith (born July 14, 1980) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

. He was signed by the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) in 2003 and then the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) in 2007. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. Keith was also a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

of the NFL,

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

of the CFL and

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

of the United Football League (UFL).

Early life

Keith played high school football at

Omaha Benson High School Omaha Benson High School Magnet, Benson High Magnet, or Benson High, is a public high school in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, in the Benson neighborhood. The original site of Benson High was the current building that houses Benson West Element ...

, averaging better than 28 yards per carry as a junior and better than 18 yards per carry as a senior. Keith will be inducted into his high schools Hall of Fame soon for breaking the rushing title in only two years of playing.

College career

Kenton then attended

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

rushing for 2,134 yards over four seasons. Keith also led the nation in yards per carry his Junior year with an 8.5-yard average

Professional career

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Keith signed with the

in 2001. In four CFL seasons, he ran for more than 3,800 yards, topped 1,000 yards twice, caught 52 passes and had eight TD receptions in 2003. Keith's best CFL season came in 2004, when he gained 1,154 yards in 14 games—a number which approaches the 1,500-yard plateau over a full 18-game schedule. If you calculate his yardage from 2003 and 2005 in the same manner, neither total falls under 1,200. In the spring of 2004, he signed with New York Jets then returned to the CFL where he was a West Division All-Star in 2006.

Indianapolis Colts

Keith signed with the

in early 2007. He was a second string running back for the Indianapolis in 2007, backing up feature back

Joseph Addai Joseph Kwaku Duah Addai Jr. ( ) (born May 3, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round (30th overall pick) ...

. Keith had his first 100-yard rushing game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 33–17 win with the Colts. Keith ran for 533 yards and scored four touchdowns as Addai's backup.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Keith was signed by the

on September 22, 2008. Suffered an injury to his LCL and was released.

Omaha Nighthawks

Keith was signed by the

on June 10, 2011. This was the Lock-Out year in the NFL, then the NightHawks folded.

Personal

Kenton's father Percy Keith played college football at the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(1976–1980). Keith is also cousins with former NFL

Roger Craig and current NFL running back

Breece Hall Breece Hall (born May 31, 2001) is an American professional American football, football running back for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa State Cyclones football, Iowa State Cyclone ...

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Kenton 1980 births Living people American football running backs Players of Canadian football from Nebraska Canadian football running backs Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Indianapolis Colts players New Mexico State Aggies football players New York Jets players Omaha Nighthawks players Players of American football from Lincoln, Nebraska Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska Saskatchewan Roughriders players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen