Salukis in the NFL Report
12/14/2010 | 12:00:00 | Football
Dec. 14, 2010
By Jason Clay
SIUSalukis.com
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Former Southern Illinois running back Deji Karim's 65-yard kickoff return with under two-minutes to play set up Jacksonville's game-winning touchdown in a victory over the Oakland Raiders last Sunday.
Karim has the third highest kickoff return average among all NFL rookies that have 20 or more returns. After returning four kickoffs for 141 yards last weekend, Karim has now returned 36 kickoffs this year for an average of 25.8 yards. He has also rushed the ball 27 times for 105 yards and has three receptions for 10 yards.
After capturing 2009 Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors and leading the Salukis to the quarterfinals of the playoffs, Karim was drafted in the sixth round by the Jaguars last April.
He missed the first four games with a thumb injury, but has since played in eight of the last nine games. In his NFL debut on Oct. 10 at Buffalo, Karim became the first player in NFL history to gain 70 or more rushing yards and 100-plus return yards in their first career game.
Other Saluki alum in the NFL include Brandon Jacobs with the New York Giants and Bart Scott with the New York Jets.
Jacobs, in his sixth season with the Giants, ran for 116 yards on 14 carries and had one touchdown in New York's 21-3 win over Minnesota on Monday night. He has played in 12 games and has 114 carries for 693 yards. He is tied for the team lead with eight touchdown runs, something that SIU fans are very familiar with.
In Jacobs' lone season at SIU (2004), he ran for 19 touchdowns. That is the third-highest single-season total in SIU history.
Scott is second on the Jets team this year with 72 tackles and he has one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Scott is in his second season with the Jets and ninth overall. He spent the first seven seasons of his career with Baltimore, where he joined the team in 2002 as an undrafted free agent at the conclusion of his Saluki career.
Karim and the Jaguars are leading the AFC South Division with a 8-5 record. Jacksonville has a chance to win the division with a win at Indianapolis on Sunday and a loss by Houston.
Scott's Jets are second in the AFC East with a 9-4 record and Jacobs' Giants are second in the NFC East, also at 9-4.
