Quintez Cephus (born April 1, 1998) is an American 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

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 ...

. 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

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

and was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the fifth round of the

2020 NFL draft The 2020 NFL draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The ...

Early life

While playing

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

Stratford Academy Stratford Academy is a private school in Bibb County, Georgia, United States, near Macon. It opened September 1960. The school has a controversial history as part of the segregation academy movement. As of 2017–18, approximately 21% of stud ...

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, Cephus played running back, wide receiver and defense, earning a three-star recruiting grade.

College career

Cephus committed to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

on November 13, 2015. He also received offers from

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, Vanderbilt and

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, with additional campuses in Savannah ( Armstrong Campus) and Hine ...

. Cephus had also committed to Furman for basketball but decided to pursue football as a "business decision". During his sophomore season, Cephus caught thirty passes and had his first career collegiate 100-yard receiving game, against

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

. However, a broken leg, sustained against

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

on November 4, sidelined Cephus for the rest of the season and required surgery. After Cephus missed his junior season due to pending legal charges, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

cleared him to play on August 23, 2019. After being expelled and reinstated by the school, Cephus said he returned to the football team because unlike others at the school, the football team never stopped supporting him. Cephus was noted for his ability to separate from defenders on the field of play during his senior season. On January 6, 2020, Cephus declared for the

. The move came after Cephus led the 2019 Badgers team in receptions, receiving yards and receiving

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He also participated in the 2020

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, where he drew praise from other players at the Combine.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Cephus was selected at in the fifth round with the 166th overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft by the

. The Lions previously acquired the selection used on Cephus as a result of the trade that sent cornerback

Darius Slay Darius Demetrius Slay Jr. (born January 1, 1991) is an American professional football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Itawamba before transferring to Mississippi State ...

to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. On July 13, 2020, the Lions signed Cephus to a four-year contract. In Week 13, against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, he scored his first professional touchdown on a 49-yard reception from quarterback

Matthew Stafford John Matthew Stafford (born February 7, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georg ...

. On October 12, 2021, Cephus was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a shoulder injury. On October 8, 2022, Cephus was once again placed on injured reserve. On April 21, 2023, Cephus was suspended indefinitely (at least one season) after it was discovered he had violated the league’s gambling policy by betting on NFL games. He was subsequently released by the Lions following the incident. On April 18, 2024, Cephus was reinstated by the NFL.

Buffalo Bills

On April 29, 2024, Cephus signed a one-year contract with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, but was released on May 16.

Houston Texans

On July 18, 2024, Cephus signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. He was released on August 27.

Los Angeles Rams

On September 18, 2024, Cephus was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 20, 2025.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

In the early morning hours of April 22, 2018, Cephus engaged in sexual acts with two women. Cephus claimed the acts were consensual, but the women claimed that they were too drunk to give consent legally and that Cephus sexually assaulted them. Later that day, the Dane County Sheriff's Department searched Cephus' apartment, and in August, Cephus was suspended from the Badgers football team. Also in August, Cephus was formally charged with second- and third-degree counts of sexual assault of an intoxicated victim. On October 9, Cephus sued the

University of Wisconsin-Madison 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 ...

in federal court, stating that the university's Title IX investigation, occurring simultaneously with the Dane County investigation, deprived Cephus of due process relating to the Fifth Amendment. Also in October, Cephus entered a not guilty plea, with a trial set for February, although that was later delayed to August. During spring of 2019, Cephus left the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It was later revealed that he was expelled by the school. In March 2019, Cephus dropped his lawsuit against the university. On August 2, Cephus was acquitted on both counts. UW later re-admitted Cephus as a student before the 2019 fall semester, citing new information in their investigation.

References

External links

Los Angeles Rams bioWisconsin Badgers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cephus, Quintez 1998 births Living people Players of American football from Macon, Georgia American football wide receivers Wisconsin Badgers football players Detroit Lions players Buffalo Bills players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Los Angeles Rams players