No. 88, 80 | |||
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Position: | Wide receiver | ||
Personal information | |||
Date of birth: | September 8, 1962 | ||
Place of birth: | Los Angeles, California | ||
Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
Weight: | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||
Career information | |||
High school: | Compton (CA) | ||
College: | Arizona | ||
Undrafted: | 1985 | ||
Career history | |||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
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Career NFL statistics | |||
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Player stats at PFR |
Player stats at NFL.com |
Rod Barksdale is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Raiders and the Dallas Cowboys. He never played high school or college football.
Barksdale attended Compton High School where he practiced track and field. He enrolled at the University of Arizona as a 400 metres athlete, but switched his specialty after clocking 20.1 seconds in a 200 metres practice run. He also ran in 100 metres events.
He received All-American honors as a senior and competed in the 1984 Olympic trials, but pulled a muscle in the semifinals and failed to qualify.
In 1985, he received a tryout invitation by the Los Angeles Raiders after writing them a letter, where he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds and was signed as an undrafted free agent. As a rookie, he was placed on the injured reserve list with an ankle injury.
The next year, he had a notable preseason and made the team. In the season opener against the Denver Broncos, he caught a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marc Wilson. Even though he was considered as a raw player, he still appeared in all 16 games with 15 starts, registering 18 receptions for 434 yards and 2 touchdowns.