Kamar Aiken
 Aiken with the Baltimore Ravens | |||||||||
| No. 11 Baltimore Ravens | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | May 30, 1989 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | Hollywood, Florida | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Hollywood (FL) Chaminade-Madonna | ||||||||
| College: | Central Florida | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2011 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2015 | |||||||||
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Kamar Aiken (born May 30, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He played college football at Central Florida.
Early years
Aiken played high school football at Chaminade-Madonna in Hollywood, FL.
Professional career
Chicago Bears
He was signed to the Chicago Bears practice squad on October 9, 2012 after Harvey Unga was waived.[1] On November 6, Aiken was waived.[2]
New England Patriots
On November 19, 2012 Aiken was signed to the New England Patriots' practice squad. On December 22, 2012 Aiken was promoted from the New England Patriots practice squad to the active roster, but was released two days later and re-signed to the practice squad. On December 29, 2012 Aiken was promoted back to the Patriots active roster.[3] On August 26, 2013, he was released by the Patriots.[4]
Baltimore Ravens
Aiken scored his first career touchdown, a 17-yard score, in a Week 6 game on October 12, 2014 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, helping quarterback Joe Flacco set the NFL record for the fastest time to record five touchdown passes (16:03). The Ravens won in a 48-17 blowout, and Aiken contributed with 2 catches for 20 yards.
In Week 14, in a game at the Miami Dolphins Aiken caught a 13-yard touchdown pass and was a key factor in a 28-13 win, taking over the spot of wide receiver Torrey Smith (who was not targeted in the game at all). He caught 6 passes for 65 yards. In a press conference that followed the game, Aiken made a comment that was directed at Smith; "I got you, bro."
In Week 17, Aiken caught a 2-yard touchdown pass to seal a win over the division rival Cleveland Browns, and the Ravens clinched the AFC's final playoff spot. Aiken's final stats for the game would be 2 receptions for 13 yards.
In the Divisional Round of the playoffs, the Ravens took on the number-one seeded New England Patriots, one of Aiken's former teams. Aiken scored the game's opening touchdown off of a 19-yard pass from Flacco, his only catch of the game, but the Ravens lost to the eventual Super Bowl XLIX champions in a 35-31 shootout and had their season ended.
Aiken finished the 2014 season with 24 receptions, 267 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.
In his second year after the departure of Torrey Smith, Aiken was expected to compete for a starting spot. As a result of injuries to Steve Smith Sr., Breshad Perriman, Dennis Pitta, and Crockett Gilmore, he would end up being the Ravens' leading receiver during the year.
Aiken had his first touchdown of the season in a Week 4 Thursday Night Football matchup with the division rival Pittsburgh Steelers, a 15-yard score. The Ravens would win the game 23-20 in overtime, giving them their first win of the season. Aiken was the game's leading receiver with 77 yards on 5 catches.
In Week 6, in a 25-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Aiken had three catches for 22 yards and a 2-yard touchdown, which he caught while diving backwards in the endzone.
In a Week 11 game against the St. Louis Rams, Aiken scored his team's only touchdown on a 3-yard pass from Flacco (who would suffer a season-ending ACL injury towards the end of the game) in a 16-13 comeback win. Aiken would finish the game with 5 receptions for 50 yards.
The following week, in a Monday Night Football game against the Browns, Aiken would be a huge factor in a shootout game that came down to the wire, catching 6 passes for 80 yards and a 15-yard touchdown. On the final play of regulation, the Browns were in position for a game-winning field goal. Baltimore's Brent Urban would block a Travis Coons kick that would be recovered by Ravens' safety Will Hill and returned it 64 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
In Week 15, the Ravens took on the Kansas City Chiefs. On the final play of the first half, the Ravens ran a Hail Mary, due to their 17 point trailing deficit, in which quarterback Jimmy Clausen lofted a pass to Aiken, who caught the ball for a 48-yard touchdown and made the game 24-14 in favor of Kansas City heading into halftime. However, the Ravens would end up being shut out in the second half and suffer their second consecutive blowout loss by a score of 34-14. Aiken, however, was the game's leading receiver, with 8 receptions (the biggest one being the unexpected touchdown) for 128 yards.
Aiken would finish the season as one of the few bright spots of an otherwise surprising 5-11 campaign. He had a breakout season, leading the Ravens in receptions (75), receiving yards (944) and receiving touchdowns (5), while also committing one fumble, which he lost.
During the 2016 offseason, the Ravens placed their second-round tender on Aiken, keeping him around for at least one more season.
References
- ↑ Adam Oestmann. "Bears sign WR Aiken, release RB Unga | Chicago Bears Huddle". Chicagonow.com. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (2012-11-06). "Bears ready to begin difficult stretch of schedule". Chicago Bears. Retrieved 2012-11-06.
- ↑ http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball/players/updates/1853727
- ↑ Hughes, Luke (August 26, 2013). "Patriots Release Kamar Aiken, Niko Koutouvides, Three Others, Re-Sign Two players". NESN.com. Retrieved September 7, 2013.