From 1/10 Telegram by Jen Toland...
www.telegram.com/news/20200110/nfl-former-holy-cross-star-kalif-raymond-cleared-by-titans-to-play-vs-ravensBy Jennifer Toland
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Jan 10, 2020 at 7:51 PM
Updated Jan 10, 2020 at 7:51 PM
Tennessee Titans returner/receiver Kalif Raymond grew up in Atlanta, but he spent four years at Holy Cross, so he is aware of this region’s obsession with the New England Patriots.
“Obviously playing (in Worcester), you know all about the Patriots,” Raymond said in a phone interview after Thursday’s practice in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Titans ended the Patriots’ season — and possibly the Tom Brady era — with a 20-13 win in last Saturday’s AFC wild-card playoff game in Foxboro. Raymond, who sustained a concussion in Week 16, was not active for the game, but he was on the Gillette Stadium sideline and celebrated with his teammates at the end.
“I got to feel that vibe,” Raymond said. “It was cool, and being on the field, I got a chance to be part of the game. It was great to be back in Massachusetts, and that experience, just the way the whole season went and just continuing to stick with it and grind and to come out on top with a win was awesome for our guys.”
Raymond was knocked out of Tennessee’s Dec. 22 game against the Saints when he took a hard hit from safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Gardner-Johnson was not penalized, but he was later fined $28,075 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness.
Raymond missed the Titans’ regular-season finale as well as last week’s game against the Patriots. He practiced this week and was cleared from the concussion protocol Wednesday. He is expected to return to action in the Titans’ AFC divisional game at Baltimore on Saturday night.
“The training staff took really good care of me and made sure I wasn’t rushed and I progressed through everything as best I could,” Raymond said. “I’m definitely glad to be back out there.”
Since signing with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2016, Raymond’s NFL journey has taken him from Denver to the New York Jets, the New York Giants, the Titans and back to the Giants.
He returned to Tennessee in December 2018, and was signed to the practice squad. In September, he was waived by the Titans, re-signed to the practice squad and promoted to the active roster Oct. 26.
In eight games this season, he had nine catches for 170 yards and his first career touchdown, and averaged 22.4 yards on 18 kickoff returns.
“They’ve given me some opportunities,” Raymond said, “and I’ve done everything I can to make the best of them.”
The 5-foot-8, 182-pound Raymond, who ranks fifth all time at Holy Cross in all-purpose yards and second in kick return yards, scored his first NFL touchdown in an important AFC South win over the Indianapolis Colts in early last month. In the fourth quarter, he hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and the score helped seal a 31-17 win.
Raymond lay in the end zone clutching the ball before jumping up and running over to present it to his mother, Kim Ly, who was in attendance at Lucas Oil Stadium that day.
“My mom was calling to me during pregame warmups, and I didn’t hear her,” Raymond said. “When I went back out, a security guard told me she was there, and after I scored, he let her come down to a closer section (on the sideline) so I could give her the ball,” Raymond said. “She was as happy as I was. It was kind of crazy. To have four years of ups and downs, it was a cool experience.”
At Holy Cross, Raymond was a standout in the passing game, but perhaps better remembered as a speedy and scintillating return specialist. As a junior in 2014, he became the first HC player since Steve Silva in 2005 to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game. In his Holy Cross career, Raymond had receiving, rushing, punt return and kick return TDs. Raymond was also a star sprinter on the HC track team.
This season, Raymond had a long kickoff return of 45 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He averaged 11.3 yards on four punt returns.
“I prepare as best I can, get locked in and put trust in the guys blocking for me,” Raymond said. “I’m happy to be back there with those guys in front of me.”
Raymond was recently in touch with former Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore, whom Raymond played for and is now at Lehigh, and he has remained close to the Crusaders program while forming a strong friendship with current coach Bob Chesney. Raymond said he was thrilled to see Holy Cross capture the Patriot League championship last fall.
Raymond attended HC’s 2018 spring game and, when he was in between teams later that year, worked out at Holy Cross. Chesney invited him to a practice last season, and Raymond talked to the team.
“I told them, ‘You can do it,’ ” Raymond said. ” ‘It doesn’t matter where the journey starts. If you just continue to push through, everybody in the locker room at any school, especially at Holy Cross, has a chance to do everything they dream of. You always have an opportunity; just believe in that and hard work will push you through.’ ”
Raymond was the 2015-16 Crusader of the Year, the most prestigious award a student-athlete at Holy Cross can receive.
Raymond got to know another former Worcester collegian, Assumption’s Deonte Harris, while working out at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness in Westboro. Both players trained for their Pro Days there.
Harris, also a returner and receiver, earned All-Pro honors as a New Orleans Saints rookie. The Minnesota Vikings, however, knocked the Saints out of the playoffs last week.
“When he took his first (punt return) back (for a 78-yard touchdown) in the preseason, I was like, ‘Oh, man,’ ” Raymond said. “I’m ecstatic for him because he works his butt off, and it’s great to see it pay off.”
Raymond said Titans coach Mike Vrabel will have the team ready, like he did last week against the Patriots, for the challenge of facing the AFC’s top seed in the Ravens on Saturday night.
Raymond said he enjoys playing for the former Patriots’ linebacker Vrabel.
“It’s cool because you can tell not only did he play the game, he did well in the game, and he knows all about the game,” Raymond said. “He knows our emotions and feelings and what we’re going through. He looks at the game in the same light you do. It’s cool when you have a coach like he is.”
In 2016, Raymond played in four games as a rookie for the Broncos, and in 2017, appeared in eight games for the Jets (2) and Giants (6) and handled punt and kickoff returns.
He said patience and the mental side of the game are the two biggest things he’s learned over the last four years. His experience with the Titans has been very rewarding.
“This season has been awesome because of the guys in the locker room,” Raymond said. “I couldn’t ask for a better group to play alongside and that means everything when you’re on the field and you look to your left and your right and you’re like, ‘Man, I’m excited to go fight with these guys.’ That’s probably the coolest part about it.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follo