Kevin Curtis
Encyclopedia
St. Louis Rams
Curtis was drafted by the St. Louis RamsSt. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
in the 3rd round (74th overall) of the 2003 NFL Draft
2003 NFL Draft
The 2003 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft was held April 26–27, 2003 at the Theatre at...
. Curtis was inactive for the first five games of 2003 after suffering a broken fibula in the final preseason game at Buffalo. In 2004
2004 NFL season
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...
, Curtis played in all but one game, totaling 32 catches for 421 yards and 2 touchdowns. He recorded his first 100-yard game on October 30, 2005 against the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, when he was filling in for starter Torry Holt. He finished the game with 105 yards. Curtis became the 2nd player in NFL history to have two back-to-back 100-yard receiving games in the playoffs before ever recording
one in the regular season. Pittsburgh's Ernie Mills was the other, Curtis did in the 2004 playoffs. In tying the record Curtis caught seven passes for 128 yards and a 57-yard TD in the NFC divisional playoff at Atlanta on January 15, 2005. The week before in the NFC Wild Card game at Seattle he caught 4 passes for 107 yards as Rams advanced. In 2005 as the Rams slot wide receiver he caught then-career highs in receptions (60), yds. (801), and TDs (6) In 2006, Curtis was again the number three wide receiver for the Rams behind Isaac Bruce
Isaac Bruce
Isaac Isidore Bruce is a retired American football wide receiver. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Memphis....
and Torry Holt
Torry Holt
After injuring his knee at the Senior Bowl, Holt, at 192 pounds, ran a 4.44 second 40-yard dash and had a vertical jump of 37 inches at the 1999 NFL Combine-St. Louis Rams:...
.
Philadelphia Eagles
On March 15, 2007 Curtis signed a 6-year, $32 million deal with the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, including $9.5 million in guaranteed money. Curtis spent his whole career behind potential Hall of Famers Isaac Bruce
Isaac Bruce
Isaac Isidore Bruce is a retired American football wide receiver. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Memphis....
and Torry Holt
Torry Holt
After injuring his knee at the Senior Bowl, Holt, at 192 pounds, ran a 4.44 second 40-yard dash and had a vertical jump of 37 inches at the 1999 NFL Combine-St. Louis Rams:...
. Now, free from their shadow, he set career highs in his first year with the Eagles and finished the year with 1,110 yards, 77 receptions and 6 touchdowns. He was the eleventh receiver all time for the Eagles to reach over one thousand yard receiving and second under Andy Reid.
Curtis had his best game on September 23, 2007 in the first half of a 56-21 Eagles win over the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
. His nine catches for 205 yards and three touchdowns tied Lee Evans
Lee Evans (American football)
-Buffalo Bills:Evans was initially assigned the jersey number 84. Evans, as a reference to his full name, had always worn the number 3 in college, a number that was not allowed to be used in professional football for wide receivers...
for the most receiving yards during the first half of a game since 1987, when Steve Largent
Steve Largent
Steven Michael "Steve" Largent is a retired American football player, enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a former U.S. Congressman, having served in the U.S. House of Representatives for Oklahoma from 1994 until 2002...
had 224 yards during a replacement game. Curtis finished the day with 11 catches for 221 yards and three touchdowns. He became the first player in NFL history to recover his own team's fumble for a touchdown in back-to-back games when he fell on Reggie Brown's fumble in the 3rd quarter against the Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on December 30, 2007. He recovered a McNabb fumble for a score a week earlier at the New Orleans Saints on December 23, 2007. With his 77 receptions in 2007, became just the 4th wide receiver in Eagles history to record 75-or-more catches in a single season, joining Irving Fryar
Irving Fryar
Irving Dale Fryar is a former American football wide receiver of the National Football League.Fryar grew up in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey and played high school football at Rancocas Valley Regional High School...
(88 in 1996, 86 in 1997), Fred Barnett
Fred Barnett
Fred Lee Barnett is a former professional American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles and Miami Dolphins...
(78 in 1994), and Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens
Terrell Owens is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Owens has been one of the dominant receivers of his era...
(77 in 2004).
In 2008
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, Curtis only played 9 games in the season due to injury. He had surgery on August 21, 2008 to repair a sports hernia and was inactive for the first six games of the season. He was also inactive at Washington on December 21, 2008, with a calf strain. However, he had highlights against Cleveland, Curtis caught 4 receptions for 45 yards and a touchdown. In the season Curtis caught 33 balls for 390 yards, and two touchdowns. He led the team with 122 receiving yards on four catches in the NFC Championship game at Arizona on January 18, 2009, which tied a franchise postseason record among wide receivers (tight end Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson
Keith Jackson is an American sportscaster, known for his long career with ABC Sports , his coverage of college football , his style of folksy, down-to-earth commentary, and his distinctive voice, with its deep cadence, and operatic tone considered "like Edward R...
, 122 yards at Chicago, 12/31/88; Terrell Owens, 122 yards vs. New England 2/6/05)
In 2009, Curtis had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and has missed twelve games of the 2009 season
2009 NFL season
The 2009 NFL season was the 90th regular season of the National Football League.The preseason started with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 9, 2009, and the regular season began September 10. The season ended with Super Bowl XLIV, the league's championship game, on February 7, 2010 at...
. He became active again in week 15 against the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
.
Curtis was released by the Eagles on March 18, 2010. He later attended workouts for the Giants and Lions but was not offered a contract.
Miami Dolphins
Curtis was signed by the Miami DolphinsMiami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on December 13, 2010. He had 6 receiving yards and 6 rushing yards. On December 28, 2010 he was released by the Dolphins.
Kansas City Chiefs
Curtis signed with the Kansas City ChiefsKansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
on January 5, 2011. He became an unrestricted free agent after the season.
Tennessee Titans
On August 26, 2011, he signed with the Tennessee TitansTennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
. Curtis was placed on injured reserve after injuring his hand prior to the regular season and official released on September 13, 2011.
Personal
Curtis is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also known as the MormonMormon
The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
faith; after high school, he served a two-year Mormon mission
Missionary (LDS Church)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
in London, England.
On September 23, 2010, Curtis received an orchiectomy
Inguinal orchiectomy
Inguinal orchiectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a testicle and the full spermatic cord through an incision in the abdomen. Orchiectomy is one form of castration. The procedure is generally performed by a urologist. Often it is performed as same-day surgery, with the patient returning home...
due to testicular cancer
Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system.In the United States, between 7,500 and 8,000 diagnoses of testicular cancer are made each year. In the UK, approximately 2,000 men are diagnosed each year. Over his lifetime, a man's risk of...
, at the Huntsman Cancer Institute.