Cleo Lemon
Encyclopedia
Cleo "Cleonardo" Lemon, Jr. (born August 16, 1979 in Greenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...

) is a Canadian football
Canadian football
Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played exclusively in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area...

 quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 in the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

 who is currently a free agent. He most recently played for the Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

 as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Arkansas State
Arkansas State Red Wolves
The Arkansas State University Red Wolves is the name given to Arkansas State University's athletic teams. The university is affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference in sports and maintains NCAA Division I status.-History:...

.

Lemon has also been a member of the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, Miami Dolphins
Miami 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...

, 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...

, Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

, and Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

.

San Diego Chargers

Lemon was signed by the San Diego Chargers on April 4, 2003. He was waived prior to the start of the season, then re-signed to the Chargers' practice squad where he spent the entire 2003 season.

Lemon was re-signed by the Chargers on January 12, 2004. In preseason, Lemon completed 17 of 27 passes (63.0%) for 178 yards one interception. After a contract holdout by Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers is an American football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League . He was one half of the Manning-Rivers draft trade which sent him to San Diego and the 1st overall pick, Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning, to the New York Giants. Rivers played college...

 forced the first-round pick to miss most of training camp, Lemon was able to make the team as the No. 3 quarterback behind Drew Brees
Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees is a quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue....

 and Doug Flutie
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard "Doug" Flutie is a former American and Canadian football quarterback. Flutie played college football at Boston College, and played professionally in the National Football League, Canadian Football League, and United States Football League...

. He was inactive for all 16 regular season games and Wild Card playoff contest.

In the 2005 preseason with San Diego, Lemon completed 34 of 49 passes (69.4%) for 369 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating
Passer rating
Passer rating is a measure of the performance of quarterbacks or any other passers in American football and Canadian football. There are at least two formulae currently in use: one officially used by the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, and one used in college football...

 of 111.7. He served as the team's third-string quarterback until October 18, 2005, when he was traded to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for quarterback A.J. Feeley
A.J. Feeley
Adam Joshua Feeley is an American football quarterback for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

 and a sixth-round draft choice in 2006.

Miami Dolphins

Lemon was inactive as the third quarterback for all 11 games with the Dolphins in 2005.

In the 2006 preseason, Trollamor was 42-59 for 450 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 104.5. In his start on August 31 against the St. Louis Rams
St. 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,...

, he was 21-27 for 271 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions for a rating of 120.8. Lemon served as the third-string quarterback for the first four games of 2006, and became the primary backup after Daunte Culpepper
Daunte Culpepper
Daunte Rachard Culpepper is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He last played for the Sacramento Mountain Lions of the United Football League . Prior to joining the UFL, Culpepper enjoyed a successful National Football League career after being drafted 11th overall in...

 became inactive starting Week 5.

On December 17 in a game 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...

, Lemon replaced starter Joey Harrington
Joey Harrington
John Joseph "Joey" Harrington, Jr. is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions third overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, where he played for most of his professional career. He ranks third all-time in Detroit history in pass completions, with 986...

 and threw for 98 yards on 9 of 16 passing with no touchdowns and no interceptions. While Harrington started the following week, Lemon replaced him at halftime eight days later on Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Football is a live broadcast of the National Football League on ESPN. From to it aired on ABC. Monday Night Football was, along with Hallmark Hall of Fame, and the Walt Disney anthology television series, one of the longest running prime time commercial network television series...

 versus the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He finished the game 11 of 16 passing for 104 yards (68.8%) and one touchdown, earning a 107.3 passer rating. However, he could not lead the Dolphins to victory as the Jets won on a last-minute field goal.

After a career as a backup, Lemon started the first regular season game of his career in the season finale against the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

 on December 31. Lemon played fairly well against the eventual Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 champions, completing 18 of 36 passes for 210 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also led the team to 10 fourth-quarter points as the Dolphins fell just short, losing 27-22.

Lemon, who was a restricted free agent
Restricted free agent
A restricted free agent is a professional athlete who plays in the KHL, NFL, NHL, or NBA. Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain or change employment status with their athletic club teams.- NFL :...

 in the 2007 offseason, was tendered a one-year, $1.3 million contract by the Dolphins on March 3. He signed the tender on May 29. New head coach Cam Cameron
Cam Cameron
-External links:...

 was offensive coordinator for the Chargers during Lemon's entire tenure there.

With Joey Harrington
Joey Harrington
John Joseph "Joey" Harrington, Jr. is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions third overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, where he played for most of his professional career. He ranks third all-time in Detroit history in pass completions, with 986...

 moving on to the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, Lemon became backup to the newly acquired Trent Green
Trent Green
Trent Jason Green is a retired professional American football quarterback. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the eighth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He played college football at Indiana University....

. With an injury to Green in Week 5, Lemon was named the starter for the Dolphins' away game against Cleveland
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. After shaking off some early rust, Lemon led the Dolphins to near victory against the Browns with several successful drives (including a drive where the Dolphins lost 20 yards on penalties that was capped with a 4th and 1 touchdown). Showing amazing determination, Lemon brought victory within their grasp, with his two touchdown rushes, two touchdown passes, and an impressive 107.3 QB rating, but the Dolphins' defense could not stop the Browns. His next start was in Miami's 49-28 loss to New England
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...

, going 24 for 37, with 1 rushing touchdown and 236 passing yards. But in Week 11, Lemon was replaced by rookie quarterback John Beck. Lemon was re-named the Dolphins' starting Quarterback in Week 15 against the Ravens. He threw a game-winning touchdown to Greg Camarillo
Greg Camarillo
Greg Camarillo is an American football wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League.He played college football at Stanford. He was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2005....

 in overtime to beat Baltimore 22-16, giving Miami their first (and only) win of the season.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On February 29, 2008, Lemon signed with 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...

. The three year deal was worth just under $9 million. He played in only two games and missed in both pass attempts in his debut season with the Jags.

He was released on June 17, 2009 after struggling to pick up the Jaguars' system.

Second stint with Ravens

After originally joining the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

 as a street free agent in 2002, Lemon re-signed with Baltimore on August 16, 2009. The move reunited him with Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron
Cam Cameron
-External links:...

, whom Lemon had previously played for with both the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 and Miami Dolphins
Miami 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...

. He was waived on September 1 because of family issues.

Toronto Argonauts

On March 17, 2010, Lemon signed with the Toronto Argonauts
Toronto Argonauts
The Toronto Argonauts are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League. The Toronto, Ontario based team was founded in 1873 and is one of the oldest existing professional sports teams in North America, after the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta...

. In a media release, he stated:

"Signing with the Toronto Argonauts is a great opportunity with a great organization. Now it is my responsibility to be in the best shape of my life and learn as much about the Canadian game as possible before I hit the field. I'm excited about this opportunity and intend to take full advantage of it. I believe in preparation and will go full steam ahead in doing my part to help lead this team to future success."


On June 22, Lemon was named the starting quarterback of the Toronto Argonauts.

On September 6, 2011, Lemon was released by the Argonauts after the team went just 2-6 with him under centre.

Career statistics

  Passing   Rushing
Year Team Games Started Att Comp Pct Yards TD Int Rating Att Yards Avg TD Fumb Lost
2006
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

MIA
2006 Miami Dolphins season
The 2006 Miami Dolphins season began with the team trying to improve on their 9–7 record in 2005. Instead, they finished the season 6–10 after being hyped by some to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl, and saw their coach Nick Saban abandon his contract to coach college football for the Alabama...

4 1 68 38 55.9 412 2 1 77.6 3 7 2.3 0 0 0
2007
2007 NFL season
The 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League.Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30....

MIA
2007 Miami Dolphins season
The 2007 Miami Dolphins season was the 38th season for the team in the National Football League and 42nd season overall. The team nearly went winless for the season, but on December 16, the third to last game of the regular season, they beat the Baltimore Ravens, giving them a final record of 1–15...

9 7 309 173 56.0 1,773 6 6 71.0 31 102 3.3 4 7 3
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...

JAC
2008 Jacksonville Jaguars season
The 2008 Jacksonville Jaguars season was the 14th season for the team in the National Football League. The Jaguars failed to improve upon their 11–5 record from 2007 and did not make the playoffs, contrary to many preseason predictions.-2008 NFL Draft picks:...

2 0 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 39.6 2 -3 -1.5 0 0 0
2010
2010 CFL season
The 2010 CFL season is the 57th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it is the 53rd season of the league. Edmonton is scheduled to host the 98th Grey Cup on November 28...

TOR
2010 Toronto Argonauts season
The 2010 Toronto Argonauts season was the 53rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 138th overall. The Argonauts successfully improved upon their 3–15 record from 2009 and their 4–14 record from 2008 and qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2007...

17 17 462 285 61.7 3,433 15 19 78.1 39 274 7.0 2 13 -
2011
2011 CFL season
The 2011 CFL season was the 58th season of modern Canadian professional football. Officially, it was the 54th season of the league. The complete schedule was released on February 18 and featured the defending Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes opening the season against the visiting BC Lions on...

TOR
2011 Toronto Argonauts season
The 2011 Toronto Argonauts season is the 54th season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 139th season overall. The Argonauts were eliminated from playoff contention on October 10, 2011 and failed to make a second straight playoff appearance, finishing 4th place in the East...

8 8 218 145 66.5 1,636 7 4 91.8 12 102 8.5 2 4 -
NFL totals 15 8 379 211 55.7 2,185 8 7 71.8 36 106 2.9 4 7 3
CFL
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

totals
25 25 680 430 63.2 5,069 22 23 82.5 51 376 7.4 4 17 -

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK