Raheim G. "Rocket" Sanders (born June 8, 2002) 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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

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). 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

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

and

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

Career

Arkansas

Sanders attended Rockledge High School in

Rockledge, Florida Rockledge is the oldest city in Brevard County, Florida. The city's population was 27,678 at the 2020 Census, up from 24,926 at the 2010 United States Census, and is part of the Palm Bay−Melbourne− Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. Sanders was a three-sport athlete playing football, basketball, and track. Sanders averaged 9.5 points per game and 5.7 rebounds per game his junior season on the hardwood. Ran an 11.31 in the 100-meter dash during his first high school track meet. He played

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 ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

in high school. He committed to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

to play college football. As a true freshman at Arkansas in 2021, Sanders played in all 13 games and had 578 yards on 114 carries with five touchdowns. He returned to Arkansas as the starting running back in 2022. On December 5, 2023, Sanders announced that he would be entering the transfer portal.

South Carolina

On December 13, 2023, Sanders announced that he would be transferring to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Statistics

Professional career

Sanders signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 26, 2025.

Personal life

Sanders has a son named Raheim "RJ" Sanders Jr.

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bioArkansas Razorbacks bio
Living people American football running backs Arkansas Razorbacks football players People from Rockledge, Florida Players of American football from Brevard County, Florida South Carolina Gamecocks football players 2002 births 21st-century American sportsmen Los Angeles Chargers players {{Runningback-2000s-stub