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Rakeem Cato

Rakeem Cato (born March 28, 1992) is an American football quarterback who is a quarterback for the Kansas City Goats of The Arena League. He played college football at Marshall and was the Thundering Herd's starting quarterback from 2011 to 2014. As a professional, he has played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL), Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League (AAL), Gulf Coast Fire of the A-League, Orlando Predators of the National Arena League (NAL), and the Iowa Rampage of the Arena Football League.

Rakeem Cato
Kansas City Goats
Cato while at Marshall
Born: (1992-03-28) March 28, 1992 (age 32)
Liberty City, Florida, U.S.
Career information
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)Quarterback
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight181 lb (82 kg)
CollegeMarshall
High schoolMiami Central
(West Little River, Florida)
Career history
As player
2015–2016Montreal Alouettes
2018Richmond Roughriders
2019Gulf Coast Fire
2020–2022Orlando Predators
2023Fayetteville Mustangs
2023Orlando Predators
2024Iowa Rampage
2024Kansas City Goats
Career highlights and awards
Career stats
Completion %68.5%
Passing yards3,570
TD–INT17–11
Rushing TDs1

Early years

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Cato attended Miami Central High School in West Little River, Florida. During his career he passed for 9,412 yards with 103 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. He also holds numerous Miami-Dade County passing records.[1][2]

College career

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As a freshman in 2011, Cato completed 182 of 304 passes for 2,059 yards with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

As a sophomore in 2012, leading the nation in passing yards per game, he completed 406 of 584 passes for 4,201 yards with 37 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. With an outstanding season he won the Conference USA MVP.[3]

His 2013 season held much promise with Cato being placed on the 2013 Players to Watch by The Touchdown Club of Columbus, and early on was already in the running of the 2013 Sammy Baugh award.[4] Cato was also on the 2013 Maxwell Award watch list[5] along with the Manning Award watch list.[6] He ended the 2013 season with 39 touchdown passes, matching Chad Pennington's Marshall record for touchdown passes in a single season.[7] Cato was named MVP in the 2013 Military Bowl victory over Maryland.[8]

Cato returned as the starter his senior season in 2014. On October 18, 2014, Cato threw a touchdown pass in his 39th consecutive game, breaking Russell Wilson's FBS record for most consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass.[9] He finished the season with 3,903 yards, 40 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Cato finished his career with a school record 14,079 passing yards and 131 passing touchdowns.

Career statistics

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Season Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD
Marshall Thundering Herd
2011 13 10 5−5 182 304 59.9 2,059 6.8 15 11 125.8 57 32 0.6 0
2012 12 12 5−7 406 584 69.5 4,201 7.2 37 11 147.1 57 31 0.5 1
2013 14 14 10−4 298 499 59.7 3,916 7.8 39 9 147.8 99 294 3.0 6
2014 14 14 13−1 267 451 59.2 3,903 8.9 40 13 155.4 94 482 5.1 8
Totals[10] 53 50 33−17 1,153 1,838 62.7 14,079 7.7 131 44 145.8 307 839 2.7 15

Professional career

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A February 2015 draft ranking by Mel Kiper, Jr. rated him as the eighth best quarterback in the 2015 NFL draft.[11] NFLDraftScout.com rated him the 30th best quarterback in the draft.[12] Some thought that Cato's size would hurt his draft chances.[13][14]

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 0+1⁄2 in
(1.84 m) 		178 lb
(81 kg) 		4.71 s 1.64 s 2.75 s 34 in
(0.86 m)		 9 ft 5 in
(2.87 m)
All values from Marshall Pro Day[12]

Despite an impressive college career, Cato went undrafted during the 2015 draft. On May 7, Cato was invited to a camp tryout with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL but was not signed.[15]

Montreal Alouettes

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On May 16, 2015, Cato signed a two-year deal with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes.[16] He started his first game for the Alouettes on July 3 against the Calgary Stampeders after Jonathan Crompton and Dan LeFevour sustained injuries in Week 1 against the Ottawa Redblacks. He threw a touchdown pass on his first drive as an Alouette. In the first half, Cato went 12–15 for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. He continued in the second half with another touchdown scoring opening drive. Cato finished the game 20–25, 241 yards and 3 touchdowns for his first CFL win. For his efforts, Cato was named player of the game, with TSN analyst and Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Matt Dunigan characterizing his performance as "phenomenal."[17] He was named Player of the Week by the league for his performance against Calgary.[18] Cato was one of three players chosen as Player of the Month for July in the CFL.[19] Cato played in 12 games in 2015 for the Alouettes, completing 174 out of 215 pass attempts (80%) with 9 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

Cato began the 2016 season as the number two quarterback on the depth chart behind veteran Kevin Glenn. Through the first half of the season the Alouettes only won 3 games, which prompted head coach Jim Popp to declare Cato as the starting quarterback for their Week 12 matchup against the BC Lions.[20] In his first practice as the starting QB Cato and wide receiver Duron Carter got into a heated argument.[21] A little over a week later Cato once again got into a heated argument at practice with Carter, this time also involving wide receiver Kenny Stafford.[22] He was released by the Alouettes on February 6, 2017.[23]

Richmond Roughriders

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Cato signed with the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League in November 2017.[24] After one game, Cato was cut from the team on March 27, 2018.

Gulf Coast Fire

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On April 8, 2019 Cato signed with the Gulf Coast Fire of the A-League. He led the Gulf Coast Fire to an undefeated season and the inaugural A-League Championship.

Orlando Predators

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On December 23, 2019 it was revealed that Cato had signed with the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League. The National Arena League cancelled the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25][26][27] On October 1, 2020, Cato re-signed with the Predators for the 2021 season.[28] However, on May 27, 2021, Cato refused to report to the Predators and didn't play a game for them in the 2021 season. On December 5, 2021, Cato re-signed with the Predators for the 2022 season. On July 13, 2022, Cato was released by the Predators.[29]

Fayetteville Mustangs

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On November 6, 2022, Cato signed with the Fayetteville Mustangs of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2023 season.[30]

Orlando Predators (second stint)

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On June 30, 2023, Cato signed with the Orlando Predators of the National Arena League (NAL) for his second stint with the team. On August 9, 2023, Cato was indefinitely suspended by the NAL.

Iowa Rampage

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On April 4, 2024, Cato signed with the Iowa Rampage of the Arena Football League. The Rampage played two games before discontinuing operations.

Kansas City Goats

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On May 13, 2024, Cato signed with the Kansas City Goats of The Arena League.

CFL career statistics

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Year Team GP Passing Rushing
Cmp Att Pct Yds TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg Lng TD
2015 MTL 12 174 251 69.3 2,167 9 9 92.8 26 160 6.2 19 1
2016 MTL 18 122 181 67.4 1,398 8 2 100.7 18 159 8.8 73 0
Total 30 296 432 68.6 3,570 17 11 96.1 44 334 7.4 73 1

Personal life

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Cato was raised in Liberty City, a neighborhood in Miami, Florida, by his mother Juannese, who worked two jobs to take care of her seven children. When Cato was thirteen, his mother died suddenly of pneumonia and his eighteen-year-old sister Shanrikia was granted custody of Cato and four other siblings. During his college career, Cato's father was released from prison, allowing Cato to meet him for the first time.[31] Cato is a father of two young girls.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Oyola, James (November 10, 2010). "Central's Rakeem Cato looks to cap dream season with Florida championship". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "UCF prepares to contain Marshall prolific passer Rakeem Cato". tribunedigital-orlandosentinel.
  3. ^ "C-USA Announces Football Players of the Year". conferenceusa.com.
  4. ^ "HERDZONE.COM :: Official Athletic Site of Marshall Thundering Herd :: Football". herdzone.com.
  5. ^ "Clowney, Manziel, Miller part of preseason list of 76 for Maxwell Award - CollegeFootballTalk". nbcsports.com. July 8, 2013.
  6. ^ "HERDZONE.COM :: Official Athletic Site of Marshall Thundering Herd :: Football". herdzone.com.
  7. ^ "WV MetroNews – Cato matches Pennington's TD mark, earns bowl MVP". WV MetroNews. December 28, 2013.
  8. ^ Prewitt, Alex (December 27, 2013). "Military Bowl: Marshall offense too much for Maryland in 31–20 victory". The Washington Post.
  9. ^ "Rakeem Cato sets NCAA record". ESPN. October 18, 2014.
  10. ^ "Rakeem Cato". ESPN.com.
  11. ^ Kiper, Mel Jr. (February 17, 2015). "Top 10 NFL prospects by position". ESPN. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Rakeem Cato". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
  13. ^ Polacek, Scott. "Rakeem Cato: Latest on Undrafted Free Agent After 2015 NFL Draft". bleacherreport.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  14. ^ Redd, Derek (April 29, 2015). "Will size dash Rakeem Cato's NFL draft chances?". wvgazettemail.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ "Cato not signed by Cleveland Browns". The Herald-Dispatch. May 11, 2015.
  16. ^ Traylor, Grant (May 16, 2015). "Cato signs to play in Canada". The Herald-Dispatch.
  17. ^ "Cato opens strong for Alouettes". The Herald-Dispatch. July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  18. ^ "Rakeem Cato joueur de la semaine dans la LCF". Radio-Canada (in French). July 7, 2015. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  19. ^ "Trevor Harris, Rakeem Cato and Marcus Howard named CFL's top players for July". Canada.com. The Canadian Press. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  20. ^ "Cato replaces Glenn as starting QB as Alouettes hope to reignite offence". September 5, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  21. ^ "Cato replaces Glenn as starting QB as Alouettes hope to reignite offence". September 5, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  22. ^ "Cato gets into altercation with Stafford, Carter at Als practice". September 13, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  23. ^ "Alouettes release QB Cato - Article - TSN". TSN. February 6, 2017. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  24. ^ "Wednesday's regional sports roundup: New Kent's LaPrade, from Virginia Tech, named ACC Wrestler of Week; Hampton's Quillen gets Beamer's No. 25 for Tech's game at U.Va". dailypress.com. November 22, 2017. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  25. ^ "Breaking News". Richmond Roughriders. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018. Retrieved March 27, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  26. ^ "A-LEAGUE SPORTS ACQUIRES TARPONS, FOR NEW ARENA LEAGUE PLAY IN 2019". www.aleaguefootball.com. September 13, 2018.
  27. ^ "A-League website". ALeagueFootball.com. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  28. ^ "2021 NAL Transactions". nationalarenaleague.com.
  29. ^ "2022 NAL Transactions". nationalarenaleague.com.
  30. ^ "2023 NAL Transactions". nationalarenaleague.com.
  31. ^ Feldman, Bruce (September 28, 2014). "How Rakeem Cato became pride of Liberty City, Marshall's star QB". FOX Sports. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
  32. ^ "Cato shows it's all about family".
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