Rashad Steward Baker (born February 22, 1982) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

. He was signed by 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2004. 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 ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Baker was also a member of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

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 ...

and

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

Early life and college career

Born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

, Baker attended Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden. Baker then attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. Although Tennessee recruited Baker as a

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 ...

, Baker switched to

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

in the fourth game his freshman year; Baker never played as free safety while in high school. Baker started four seasons for the

Tennessee Volunteers football The Tennessee Volunteers football program (variously called "Vols," "UT" and "Big Orange") represents the University of Tennessee (UT). The Vols have played football for 132 seasons, starting in 1891; their combined record of 870–415–53 ( ...

team from 2000 to 2003 and also ran

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

on the Tennessee track team. With Tennessee, Baker started 41 of 45 games played and had 233 tackles, 11 interceptions, and 24 passes deflected. Baker made second-team

All-SEC The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: * ...

honors in 2001 as a sophomore and first-team All-SEC honors as a junior in 2002.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

A projected sixth-round pick for the

2004 NFL draft The 2004 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 from April 24–25, 2004, at the Theate ...

, Baker was signed by the

as an

in 2004 and played for the team through the 2006 season. Baker started 3 games of 14 played in his rookie season 2004 and never started any of 14 games played in 2005. As a rookie, Baker had 22 tackles, 1 pass deflected, 1 interception with a 26-yard return, and 1 forced fumble in 2004. In 2005, Baker had 18 tackles, 1 pass deflected, and 1 interception returned for 18 yards.

Minnesota Vikings

On September 2, 2006, the Bills waived Baker. The

signed Baker the next day. Baker played one game as a reserve for the Vikings on October 1 and was released on November 4.

New England Patriots

Baker was claimed off waivers by the

on November 7, 2006. He played 5 games with the Patriots in 2006 with 5 tackles. In 2007, Baker played 8 games and had 12 tackles. He was released on December 19, 2007.

Oakland Raiders

Baker was picked up by the

off waivers on the same day he was waived by New England. In the 2008 offseason, Baker's jersey number was changed from 28 to 22 to accommodate free agent acquisition

Gibril Wilson Gibril Donald Wilson (born 12 November 1981) is an American former professional football safety in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New York Giants in the fifth round of the 2004 NFL draft. He played college football at ...

. He later changed his number to 27. In 2008, Baker played 10 games with 1 start for the Raiders and made 24 tackles, 4 passes deflected, and 3 interceptions.

Philadelphia Eagles

Baker signed a one-year contract with the

on March 11, 2009. He was released on August 18.

Oakland Raiders (second stint)

Baker re-signed with the Raiders on August 19, 2009. His number 27 was taken by Jason Horton, so Baker chose number 32. He was released from the Raiders on September 5, 2009.

NFL statistics

References

External links

New England Patriots bioOakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Rashad 1982 births Living people Eastside High School (Camden, New Jersey) alumni Players of American football from Camden, New Jersey American football safeties Tennessee Volunteers football players Buffalo Bills players Minnesota Vikings players New England Patriots players Oakland Raiders players Philadelphia Eagles players