Former UAlbany Cornerback Rashad Barksdale Makes History in NFL's Chiefs-Jaguars Game

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Kansas City, Mo. – Former University at Albany football standout Rashad Barksdale made history in Sunday’s National Football League game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Barksdale became the first UAlbany player to appear in an NFL regular-season game when he took the field on special teams for the opening kickoff. He also played on the punt cover and punt return units and made a fourth-quarter tackle with 6:08 remaining.

“When I first stepped onto the field it was the first play of the game,” said Barksdale, whose team fell to Jacksonville, 17-7, at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium on Oct. 7. “The crowd was really into it and it was so loud ... a great experience.”

Barksdale, a native of Hudson, N.Y. who had been on the inactive list for the Chiefs’ opening four games, was added to Kansas City’s 53-man roster in early September. He was selected in the 2007 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round. The Eagles released him at the end of the preseason to get down to their final roster before Kansas City claimed him off waivers.

“I have come a long way to get where I am right now,” offered Barksdale, who came to the UAlbany program as a walk-on in the summer of 2006 after playing two years on the school’s baseball team. “The UAlbany football program has done the same where they actually have now had someone play in a real NFL game. I have never been able to say, I was the first to do something, but that all changed today.”