Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter (; born September 12, 1973) 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 ...

who played in 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) for eight seasons. 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 ...

for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he earned consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors and was

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the 1995 Rose Bowl. Carter was selected first overall in the

1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, but after suffering a torn ligament in his knee during his first preseason game, he struggled with injuries for the remainder of his career. Missing most of his five seasons with the Bengals due to injury, Carter played his final three seasons in a limited role for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

Early life

Carter was born in

Westerville, Ohio Westerville is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, Franklin and Delaware County, Ohio, Delaware counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. A northeastern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus as well as the home of Otterbein University, the population was 39 ...

.National Football League, Historical Players
Ki-Jana Carter
Retrieved February 5, 2012. His nickname, "Ki-Jana", is from a character in the movie '' Shaft in Africa'' and he has gone by that name since his birth. At Westerville South High School,databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved February 5, 2012. he starred in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track. In football, he was a 1991 ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' magazine high school All-American.

College career

Carter attended

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

, where he was a standout player for coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

's Nittany Lions football teams from 1992 to 1994, along with a strong group of offensive players including future NFL starters Jeff Hartings, Joe Jurevicius,

Kerry Collins Kerry Michael Collins (born December 30, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. Collins was a member of six NFL teams, most notably the Carolina Panth ...

, O.J. McDuffie, Bobby Engram and

Kyle Brady Kyle James Brady (born January 14, 1972) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars and New England ...

. Together, this explosive offense propelled the 1994 Penn State team to a 12–0 undefeated season. At Penn State Carter wore the number 32, which had been worn by running back Blair Thomas. Despite playing only three seasons, he is still in the top ten among Penn State running backs, having compiled 2,829 yards rushing on 395 attempts and scoring 34 touchdowns. His best single game came against the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 Varsity team, varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan Army, Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the sc ...

in 1994, when he rushed for 227 yards on 27 carries and scored five touchdowns. Carter helped lead the 1994 Penn State football team to an undefeated record and a berth in the Rose Bowl, was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and finished second in the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting. He earned co-MVP honors in the Rose Bowl, rushing for 156 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. He ran for an 83-yard touchdown on the first offensive play of the game, which is the third-longest run in Rose Bowl history and the longest run in Penn State bowl history. Carter also added touchdown runs of 17 and three yards in the third quarter. The Rose Bowl was Carter's final game as a Nittany Lion, as he was encouraged by Paterno to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. "This is the first time I have told anybody who has not graduated that I felt they ought to leave," Paterno said. The Tournament of Roses Association announced his induction into the

Rose Bowl Hall of Fame The Rose Bowl Game is an annual American college football bowl game, traditionally played on January 1 (New Year's Day) at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2. ...

as a member of the Class of 2014, a ceremony that took place in December 2014.

Professional career

The Cincinnati Bengals selected Carter with the first overall pick of the

, where his running style drew comparisons to Emmitt Smith. He played for the Bengals from to . They acquired the first pick in a trade with the expansion

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

for the 5th and 36th picks. Carter signed a seven-year, $19.2 million deal which included a $7.125 million signing bonus, which at the time was an NFL record contract for a rookie. There were also incentive clauses such as making an extra $100,000 if he scored 12 touchdowns in a season. He played for the

in 2001. In 2002, Carter was signed by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

, but did not make their final roster. He spent his final two seasons with the

from 2003 to 2004.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Ki-Jana Carter
Retrieved February 5, 2012. In seven NFL seasons, he played in 59 games, started 14 of them, and compiled 1,144 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 319 attempts, and 66 receptions for 469 yards and a touchdown.

Injuries

Carter tore a ligament in his knee on his third carry of his first preseason game of his rookie year and never fully recovered. He missed the entire 1995 season. In 1997, he suffered a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder with fears that he would miss the entire season. In 1998, he missed the entire season after breaking his left wrist in a game against the Tennessee Oilers. In 1999, he again missed the entire season after dislocating his right kneecap in a game against the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Life after football

Carter is now an

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and sports

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

ger at OPENSports.com. He founded Byoglobe, a print and promotional marketing material company, in 2008. He serves as the

Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 97,335 at the time of the 2020 census. History Early history In ...

-based company's

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

References

External links

"Carter won't wallow"
Bengals.com, April 27, 2007
Ki-Jana Carter blog entries
OPEN Sports Network
Byoglobe website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Ki-Jana 1973 births Living people All-American college football players American bloggers American health care chief executives American football running backs Cincinnati Bengals players First overall NFL draft picks New Orleans Saints players Penn State Nittany Lions football players Sportspeople from Westerville, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio Washington Redskins players 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen