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Andre Rison

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Andre Rison
No. 85, 80, 81, 84, 89, 3, 87
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1967-03-18) March 18, 1967 (age 57)
Flint, Michigan, U.S.
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:188 lb (85 kg)
Career information
High school:Flint Northwestern
College:Michigan State
NFL draft:1989 / round: 1 / pick: 22
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:743
Receiving yards:10,205
Receiving touchdowns:84
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Stats at CFL.ca (archive)

Andre Previn Rison (born March 18, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Oakland Raiders. He also played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Toronto Argonauts. Rison was selected to the Pro Bowl five times from 1990 to 1993 and once again in 1997.

Rison won a Super Bowl championship with the Packers in 1997 over the New England Patriots, scoring the first points of the game on a 54-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Brett Favre. He also won a Grey Cup championship with the Toronto Argonauts in 2004. He is one of the few players to win professional football championships in both the United States and Canada. He was released by the Argonauts during the 2005 CFL season. He holds an NFL record for scoring a touchdown with 7 teams.

He was a star player at Flint Northwestern High School and in college at Michigan State University. As a senior at Michigan State, Rison had 30 receptions for 709 yards and 5 touchdowns; he was a prominent contributor to the 1987 Michigan State squad that won the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1988.

During the early portion of his career, he received the nickname "Bad Moon" Rison, a reference to the Creedence Clearwater Revival song Bad Moon Rising. Michael Adler is credited with giving the nickname to Chris Berman. When he played for the Chiefs, he had the nickname "Spiderman".

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Vertical jump Broad jump
5 ft 10 in
(1.78 m) 		187 lb
(85 kg) 		4.47 s 1.56 s 2.68 s 3.96 s 35.0 in
(0.89 m)		 9 ft 6 in
(2.90 m)

Indianapolis Colts

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The Indianapolis Colts selected Rison in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1989 NFL draft.[1] In his rookie season, he caught 52 passes for 820 yards with four touchdown receptions.

Atlanta Falcons

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On April 20, 1990, the Indianapolis Colts traded Rison, Chris Hinton, a fifth round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft, and their first round pick on the 1991 NFL draft to the Atlanta Falcons for their first overall pick and their fourth round pick in the 1990 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts used the trade to move up to select Jeff George first overall in the 1990 NFL draft. His next season marked the first of five very productive campaigns with the Falcons. During these years, Rison finished near the top of most receiving categories, and led all NFL players with 15 receiving touchdowns in 1993. Andre Rison was only the 5th Receiver in NFL history to score 60 touchdowns in his first six seasons. Rison led the NFL in most receptions in his first four and first five seasons. Rison was second in the NFL for most receptions in six seasons.

Cleveland Browns

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After the 1994 season, Rison signed a lucrative free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns, as operated by Art Modell, who had to take a loan for the signing bonus for a deal was totalled five years for $17 million, which was at the time the most lucrative wide receiver deal ever signed. Rison was expected to become the featured receiving threat for the Browns, who had made the playoffs the year before.[2] Rison, who had been named to the Pro Bowl in four of his previous six seasons, had career lows in receptions (47), yards (701), touchdowns (3), receptions per game (2.9), and yards per game (43.8). Rison also developed a feud with the Cleveland fans, who were angered over the announcement that the team would be relocating to Baltimore to go with his performance, with Rison later stating he had received death threats mailed to him.[3] After a home loss to the Packers, Rison, who had been booed by the fans throughout the game, lashed out, stating, "We didn't make the fucking move. So, for all the booers, fuck you too. I'll be glad when we get to Baltimore, if that's the case. We don't have any home-field advantage. I've never been booed at home. Baltimore's our home. Baltimore, here we come."[4] Rison, however, did not make the move with the team to Baltimore as he was released to make room for the new first round picks drafted by the Ravens (Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden). He joined the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason.

Jacksonville Jaguars

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In 1996, Rison spent the first ten games with the Jacksonville Jaguars, catching 34 passes for 458 yards and two touchdowns. Rison had a miscommunication with quarterback Mark Brunell in week 12 that resulted in an interception in a 28–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This mistake caused tempers to flare between the two, and Rison was subsequently released.[5]

Green Bay Packers

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The Green Bay Packers claimed Rison off of waivers on November 20, 1996.[6] He played in five of the remaining games, catching 13 passes for 135 yards and one touchdown. In three playoff games, culminating in a Super Bowl appearance, he caught seven passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns, with Rison catching the opening touchdown in Super Bowl XXXI, a 35–21 victory.

Kansas City Chiefs

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He signed with the Kansas City Chiefs prior to the 1997 season. For the second time in his career (1993 being the only other time), Rison started in all 16 games of the season. He caught 72 passes for 1,092 yards and seven touchdowns as the Chiefs went on to become the #1 seed that year. In the Divisional round playoff game, Rison caught eight passes for 110 yards, but the Chiefs lost 14–10 to division rival and eventual Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos. The following year, he caught 40 passes in 14 total games for 542 yards and five touchdowns. For 1999, he played 15 games and regressed further, catching 21 passes for 218 yards with no touchdowns.

Oakland Raiders

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With the Oakland Raiders in 2000, he played in all 16 games without starting, catching 41 passes for 606 yards and six touchdowns. The Raiders made a run in the playoffs, and Rison made small contribution, catching three combined passes for 44 yards.

Rison finished his NFL career with 743 receptions for 10,205 yards and 84 touchdowns, along with eight kickoff returns for 150 yards and nine carries for 23 yards.

Toronto Argonauts

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He signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in August 2004, who went on to win the 92nd Grey Cup championship that year. He was released by the team in August 2005.[7][8][9]

Nicknames

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Rison is also remembered for his life off the football field, which garnered him the nickname "Bad Moon" Rison from ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman, alluding to the song "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

During his three-season stint with Kansas City, Rison was nicknamed Spider-Man and would often fake shooting a web, like Spider-Man after scoring a touchdown.[10] Rison gave himself the nickname in part because he viewed Spider-Man as a positive character and wanted to be thought of as less of a headache and problem. His "Spider-Man" nickname has been named one of the best nicknames in sports history by Bleacher Report.[11]

Life after football

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Coaching

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In the 2006–2008 high school football seasons, Rison was assistant coach at Beecher High School in Flint, Michigan. The head coach was Courtney Hawkins, Rison's former teammate at Michigan State.

In March 2010, Rison was named the new head coach for Flint Northwestern High School's football team.[12]

For the opening week of the 2010 and 2011 high school football seasons, Rison and Flint Northwestern faced off against Courtney Hawkins and Flint Beecher. Not only did these games showcase two former NFL players coaching at their alma maters, but the schools are so close geographically that it made for an intriguing and intense rivalry. The crowds came in large numbers for both games, which forced each game to Flint's 11,000 seat Atwood Stadium, instead of Flint Beecher's Russ Reynolds Field or Flint Northwestern's Guy V. Houston Stadium. Beecher won the 2010 opener, 28–18, spoiling Rison's head coaching debut.[13] The 2011 opener was a thriller, with Northwestern holding on for a 46-44 double overtime victory. In two years at Flint Northwestern, Rison's coaching the team showed noticeable improvement in his second season, nearly doubling their offensive output, and losing four of their games by a combined total of only nine points. In May 2012, Rison announced that he was leaving Flint Northwestern in order to complete his degree at Michigan State and join the football team as an assistant coach.[14]

Andre Rison coached in 2014 for Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the offensive coordinator, where he recorded an 0–9 record. He also coached his son Hunter Rison, who committed to Michigan State on April 1, 2016.[15][16] During the 2023–2024 school year, Rison served as the offensive coordinator for University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.[17] On June 4, 2024, he was announced as the new interim head coach of the University Liggett team.[1]

Other interests

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Rison also trains wide receivers at the Andre Rison Football Academy, and he coached in the 2008 Hawaii All-Star Classic. Rison appeared on an episode of the MTV reality show Made.[18] He worked to help a student become a high school varsity quarterback.[19] Rison was a featured Pro on the second season of the reality show Pros vs. Joes on Spike TV, and also appeared in an episode of TNA Impact (now called Impact Wrestling). He was at the center of the hexagonal ring, and then Abyss came out and Black Hole slammed Rison.

Rison appears prominently in the 2012 ESPN 30-30 documentary Broke about former professional athletes who squander their wealth. The film, directed and written by Billy Corben of Rakontur, was featured at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival as part of its TFF/ESPN Sports Festival, and is included in the second season (styled as "Volume II") of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series.

Rison was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit on September 15, 2017.

Personal life

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Rison dated Lisa Lopes of TLC on and off from 1993 to 2001. Their relationship was rocky, marked with domestic violence allegations. During one altercation in 1994, Lopes lit his shoes on fire in the bathtub, burning their house down; she was charged with first-degree arson.[20][21]

Andre's son, Hunter Rison, played as a true freshman wide receiver for Michigan State University in 2017, before transferring to Kansas State University in 2018.[22] While at Kansas State, he was charged with battery of a young woman in June 2019. Shortly thereafter, he pledged to attend Fullerton College in 2020. After waiting out part of the COVID-19 pandemic in Arizona with his mother Racquel Banks,[23] Hunter enrolled and played at Grand Valley State University in 2021.[24]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Super Bowl champion
Led the league
Bold Career high

Regular season

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Year Team Games Receiving
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
1989 IND 16 13 52 820 15.8 61 4
1990 ATL 16 15 82 1,208 14.7 75 10
1991 ATL 16 15 81 976 12.0 39 12
1992 ATL 15 13 93 1,119 12.0 71 11
1993 ATL 16 16 86 1,242 14.4 53 15
1994 ATL 15 14 81 1,088 13.4 69 8
1995 CLE 16 14 47 701 14.9 59 3
1996 JAX 10 9 34 458 13.5 61 2
GB 5 4 13 135 10.4 22 1
1997 KC 16 16 72 1,092 15.2 45 7
1998 KC 14 13 40 542 13.6 80 5
1999 KC 15 14 21 218 10.4 20 0
2000 OAK 16 0 41 606 14.8 49 6
Career 186 156 743 10,205 13.7 80 84

References

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  1. ^ "1989 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
  2. ^ Cabot, Mary Kay (December 17, 1995). "Affair To Remember Emotional Browns Pound The Bengals". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  3. ^ "Andre Rison fanned the flames in '95; what does he say now?". November 18, 2015.
  4. ^ Cabot, Mary Kay (November 19, 1995). "BROWNS CAN'T SNEAK WIN PACKERS HALT TESTAVERDE RALLY, 31-20". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  5. ^ Dame, Mike (November 19, 1996). "RISON CUT BY JAGUARS AFTER FAILING TO RISE TO EXPECTATIONS". orlando sentinel.
  6. ^ STAPLETON, ARNIE (November 20, 1996). "Packers Sign Andre Rison". APnews.
  7. ^ "Argonauts sign veteran Andre Rison." Canadian Press, August 21, 2004. www.tsn.ca. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  8. ^ "Dropped: CFL's Argonauts release ex-Pro Bowler Rison". www.espn.com. August 26, 2005. Retrieved October 30, 2013.
  9. ^ "Andre Rison signs with CFL club." USA Today, August 22, 2004. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  10. ^ Prisco, Pete (November 7, 1997). "Jaguars' 'Bad Moon' on rise as Chiefs' 'Spiderman'". Florida Times-Union. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  11. ^ Sickel, Jeremy (June 11, 2012). "Jaguars' 'Bad Moon' on rise as Chiefs' 'Spiderman'". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 9, 2012.
  12. ^ "Andre Rison named Northwestern High's football coach." Archived November 2, 2013, at the Wayback Machine www.minbcnews.com, March 30, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  13. ^ "Beecher spoils the head coaching debut of Andre Rison." www.minbcnews.com, August 26, 2010. Retrieved Oct., 4, 2012
  14. ^ Spezia, Mark. "Flint Northwestern football coach Andre Rison resigns; will complete degree and coach at Michigan State." www.highschoolsports.milive.com, May 4, 2012. Retrieved Oct., 4, 2012
  15. ^ "Hunter Rison, Ann Arbor, Michigan (Skyline)" www.247sports.com, April 1, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  16. ^ "Hunter Rison, Class of 2017." ESPN.com, April 1, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  17. ^ Tomhave, David Goricki and Daren. "Kevin Glenn named U-D Jesuit football coach; Andre Rison named interim at Liggett". The Detroit News. Retrieved June 6, 2024.
  18. ^ "MTV MADE at Football University." www.youtube.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
  19. ^ Armstrong, Kevin (May 9, 2008). "Going undercover as an aspiring college quarterback prospect". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved December 31, 2008.
  20. ^ "Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes of TLC Burns Down Andre Rison's House". The Boombox. June 9, 2014.
  21. ^ "TLC's Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes To Wed Andre Rison". MTV News. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015.
  22. ^ "Former Michigan State WR Hunter Rison transferring to Kansas State". MLive.com. January 20, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  23. ^ "Matured from mistakes, Ex-Michigan State receiver Hunter Rison chases next opportunity". DetroitNews.com. July 20, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  24. ^ "Hunter Rison - 2021 - Football". Grand Valley State University Athletics. Grand Valley State University. Retrieved December 7, 2021.

Further reading

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