Kenyon Octavia Coleman (born April 10, 1979) is an American football defensive end who plays for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was selected in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft out of the University of California, Los Angeles by the Oakland Raiders. On March 6, 2007, the Jets signed Coleman to a contract, reportedly worth $20M over five years.

Early years[link]

Coleman was born in Fontana, California^[1][2] to Johnny and Patsy Coleman. He attended Alta Loma High School in Alta Loma, California.^[1]

College career[link]

Coleman attended the University of California, Los Angeles,^[1][2] where he majored in philosophy.^[3] During his college career, he had 138 tackles and 16.5 sacks. Coleman was an All-PAC 10 selection as a senior.^[3]

Professional career[link]

Coleman was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.^[2] He made his debut in the NFL against the Buffalo Bills in week 5. On August 31, 2003, the Dallas Cowboys acquired him via a trade with the Oakland Raiders.^[3] He spent four seasons with the Cowboys,^[2] making 68 tackles and 6.5 sacks. On March 6, 2007 he was signed by the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent.^[3] He led the league in tackles as a defensive end with 83 in 2007. On April 25, 2009, he was traded to the Browns as part of a trade to acquire the fifth overall pick in the 2009 Draft in order to select Mark Sanchez. On February 9, 2011, the Browns released Coleman. On July 30, 2011, he signed a 2 year contract worth $3.75 million with the Dallas Cowboys, five years after he left the Dallas Cowboys in free agency. This reunited him with his former defensive cooridinator from Cleveland Rob Ryan.

Personal life[link]

Coleman and his wife, Katie, have three children a daughter and two sons. Kaleigh, Kaleb, and Kason.^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kenyon Coleman player profile from ESPN

Morris Lee Claiborne (born February 7, 1990) is an American football cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Louisiana State University (LSU), and was recognized as an All-American. He was selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft, and was considered by many to be the best defensive prospect available in the draft.^[1]

Early years[link]

Claiborne was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Fair Park High School in Shreveport, where he was a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com.^[2] He played quarterback, wide receiver and defensive back. As a senior he had over 2,000 all purpose yards and 30 touchdowns as a quarterback.

College career[link]

Claiborne attended Louisiana State University, where he played for coach Les Miles' LSU Tigers football team from 2009 to 2011. After spending his freshman season as a backup in 2009, he started 12 games in 2010 and recorded 37 tackles and a team leading five interceptions as a sophomore in 2010, and was named a second-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection.^[3]

Following his 2011 junior season, Claiborne won the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the year's best defensive back, earned first-team All-SEC honors, and was recognized as a unanimous first-team All-American.

Professional career[link]

2012 NFL Draft[link]

Claiborne was not perceived as a first-round draft pick prior to his junior season.^[4][5][6] By midseason, however, he had drawn the attention of NFL scouts and analysts, having erased concerns his sophomore production resulted from playing opposite of Patrick Peterson.^[7][8] Towards the end of his junior season, Claiborne had established himself as the No. 1 cornerback prospect for the 2012 NFL Draft, unanimously projected as a top-6 selection.^[9][10][11] Claiborne scored a 4 out of 50 on the Wonderlic Test, which is an aptitude test given to NFL prospects to test basic intelligence.^[12]

Coming into the NFL draft, Claiborne was predicted to be drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the number 5 pick overall or even the 4th overall pick to the Minnesota Vikings. The first day of the NFL draft was held on April 26, 2012. On the first day of the draft, the Buccaneers traded out of the 5th pick to the 7th pick with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars selected Oklahoma State University wide-receiver Justin Blackmon with their newly acquired 5th overall pick. The Cowboys then traded with the St. Louis Rams (who had expressed their desire to trade out of the 6th pick in order to collect more draft picks) for the 6th pick, and selected Claiborne ahead of the Buccaneers. The St. Louis Rams received the Cowboys' 2012 first and second round selections (14th and 45th overall) while the Cowboys received the 2012 first round selection (6th overall). Buccaneers drafted safety Mark Barron with the 7th overall pick.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dallas Cowboys bio
• LSU Tigers bio

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2008)

Keith Sweat (born July 22, 1961)^[1] is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and an innovator of the New Jack Swing.

Music career[link]

1975-1984: with Jamilah[link]

Sweat started his musical career as a member of a Harlem band called "Jamilah" in 1975. With the help of Jamilah, Sweat was able to hone his craft as a lead singer by performing regionally throughout the tri-State area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The group was started by bassist Larry Peoples, guitarist Michael Samuels, and drummer Walter Bradley. Additional members of the group included Peter DaCosta (vocals), Joseph McGeachy (sax), Dwight Banks (trumpet), and Kenneth Varner (keyboards).

1984-1987: Stadium Records[link]

After leaving the group in 1984 to aspire for a solo career, he sang at nightclubs throughout New York City and landed a chance to record for the independent label, Stadium Records. Sweat recorded only one tune for Stadium called "My Mind Is Made Up", which was their third ever release, but on Stadium's first release, he is credited as co-writer and co-producer of "You Are The One For Me", the last recording ever made by the group GQ. One of GQ's original members is his uncle, Keith "Sabu" Crier.

[edit] 1987-1988: Make It Last Forever

Later on in 1987, Keith Sweat was discovered by Vincent Davis and offered a recording contract with his label, Vintertainment Records, which was founded in 1983 on the foundations of early Hip-Hop and otherwise best known for releasing Joeski Love's "Pee Wee Dance" in 1985. Vintertainment was distributed by Elektra Records from 1985 until it ceased operations in 1990, in which case Elektra opted to buy Keith's contract outright and have him record directly for the label.^{[citation needed]}. On November 25, 1987, Sweat released his debut solo album Make It Last Forever, which sold three million copies. The biggest hit from this album was the song that inaugurated the New Jack Swing era "I Want Her" (#1 R&B/#5 Pop), which was nominated for the 1989 Soul Train Best R&B/Urban Contemporary Song of the Year award, while the title track from the album hit #2 on the R&B charts.

[edit] 1990-1991: I'll Give All My Love to You

Sweat reached the charts again with his second album I'll Give All My Love to You (1990) which hit #6 on the Billboard 200 chart. The singles released during this period included "(There You Go) Tellin' Me No Again" (from the film New Jack City).

[edit] 1991-1992: Keep It Comin

He released his third album, Keep It Comin' in 1991 which debuted in the top 20 of the album chart. This album, included the songs, "Why Me Baby" (featuring LL Cool J) and "Keep It Comin'". Sweat then moved from New York to Atlanta, where he founded the Keia Records label that would feature Silk & Kut Klose.

[edit] 1994-1997: Get Up on It and Keith Sweat

Sweat released his fourth album Get Up on It in the summer of 1994, and his self-titled fifth album in 1996. Both albums reached the top ten on the Billboard 200. The single co/produced and written by eRiC McCAiNe "Twisted" hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and "Nobody" hit #3, which made them Sweat's biggest hits to date. The song "Just A Touch", with Traci Hale providing background vocals, has earned a regular spot on radio playlists^{[citation needed]}. "Just A Touch" was a cover of the 1979 song "Just a Touch of Love" by Slave.

[edit] 1998-1999: Still in the Game

Sweat's sixth album, Still in the Game was released in 1998, hitting #6 on the Billboard 200, and #2 on the R&B/Hip Hop albums chart. It featured the singles "Come and Get With Me" (which featured Snoop Dogg) (#12 Hot 100) and "I'm Not Ready" (#16 Hot 100).

[edit] 2000-2001: Didn't See Me Coming

Sweat's success on the charts started to diminish in 2000, when he released the album Didn't See Me Coming. None of the singles from the album reached the top forty. They were moderate hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 2002: Rebirth

On August 13, 2002, Keith Sweat released his eighth album, Rebirth. The single "One on One" reached #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #44 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.

[edit] 2007-2008: Just Me

His 2008 album Just Me fared better with its first single, "Love U Better (featuring Keyshia Cole)" being played on Urban radio stations for about a year before the album's release^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 2010-present: Ridin' Solo and current status

Sweat is currently signed to Kedar Records and released his tenth studio album entitled Ridin' Solo on June 22, 2010. The lead single taken from the album is "Test Drive" and featured label-mate Joe.^[2]

Since 2007, Sweat has been the host of a nationally syndicated radio program based upon the Quiet storm format. The Keith Sweat Hotel (known as The Quiet Storm with Keith Sweat on WBLS in New York City) is syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks.^[3]

Protégés[link]

In 1992, Sweat discovered the group Silk, and helped craft their debut album, Lose Control, which hit #7 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album's single "Freak Me" hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 1, 1993. In 1993, Sweat discovered the Atlanta based female R&B group Kut Klose. Sweat also produced the group's debut album Surrender, which produced the their biggest hit single "I Like", peaking to #8 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. In the fall of 1997, Sweat discovered the group Ol' Skool and helped with their self-titled debut. He was on their biggest single, "Am I Dreaming," which featured R&B group Xscape.

Sweat also formed the R&B supergroup LSG with Gerald Levert and Johnny Gill, and released their self-titled debut Levert.Sweat.Gill in 1997. That album featured "My Body", which became a hit single. The album was certified double platinum and reached #4 on the U.S. Billboard 200.

Discography[link]

• Make It Last Forever (1987), Vintertainment and Elektra Records
• I'll Give All My Love to You (1990), Vintetainment and Elektra Records
• Keep It Comin' (1991), Elektra Records
• Get Up on It (1994), Elektra Records
• Keith Sweat (1996), Elektra Records
• Still in the Game (1998), Elektra Records
• Didn't See Me Coming (2000), Elektra Records and Rhino Entertainment
• Rebirth (2002), Elektra Records
• Just Me (2008), Keia Records and Atco Records
• Ridin' Solo (2010), Kedar Entertainment and Universal Music Group
• Til the Morning (2011), KDS Entertainment, E1 Music and Universal Music Group

Awards and nominations[link]

• American Music Awards
  • 1998, Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist [Nominated]
  • 1997, Favorite Male R&B/Soul Artist (Winner)
  • 1997, Favorite R&B/Soul Album: Keith Sweat (Nominated)
  • 1991, Favorite R&B/Soul Male Artist (Nominated)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography & booking information
• Keith Sweat artist page at VH1.com
• Keith Sweat artist page at Allmusic
• Keith Sweat at Wenig- LaMonica Associates
• Sweathotel
• IMDb.com
• Keith Sweat's 'SoulRnB.com' group (videos, photos, discussions, etc.) (French)
• Keith Sweat 2010 Audio Interview at Soulinterviews.com