Our tackle talk speaker for this month is KEON RAYMOND, a former professional CFL defensive back, who is now the new head coach and director of football operations for the Prince George Kodiaks of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).

The Kodiaks were formed in 2020, and is a community-owned training program with several teams for the age groups ranging from U-10 to U-23. He will oversee the development of youth training camps, player development and training, as well as the creation of a non-contact league and to expand the program from Prince George to other northern B.C. communities.

Raymond played his college football at Middle Tennessee State where then signed with the Tennessee Titans of the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2006, but did not make the playing roster and was cut during training camp.

He went on to play for the Nashville Kats and New Orleans VooDoo of the Arena Football League in 2007 and 2008. Unfortunately, the arena league folded and it looked as though his football days were over. However, he got a call from the CALGARY STAMPEDERS in the CFL and signed with them in 2008 where he went on to play for 8 years with the club. He proceeded to win 2 Grey Cup championships, in 2008 and 2014.

After his 8 years with the Stamps, Keon signed with the Toronto Argonauts in 2016, but only played in 8 games before getting released on August 24, 2016. He went on to sign with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in October later that year and played in the last 2 regular season games and the team's East Semi Final loss to the Edmonton Eskimos.

Raymond is a devout Christian and attended Royal Oak Victory Church in Calgary, Alberta, where he previously resided with his wife, Bianca, and their four children, Keon Jr., Dashaun, Ramael, and Gabrielle.

Photo credit 1: Calgary Stampeders
Photo credit 2: STEVE RUSSELL / TORONTO STAR
Photo credit 3: stampeders.com

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