Keith Rivers

Infobox NFLactive
name=Keith Rivers

---

caption=Keith Rivers during his tenure at USC.
currentteam=Cincinnati Bengals
currentnumber=55
currentposition=Linebacker
|birthdate=birth date and age|1986|5|5
birthplace=San Bernardino, California
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=235
debutyear=2008
debutteam=Cincinnati Bengals
college=Southern California
draftyear=2008
draftround=1
draftpick=9
pastteams=
* Cincinnati Bengals (2008-present)
status=Active
highlights=
* No notable achievements
statweek=5
statseason=2008
statlabel1=Tackles
statvalue1=31
statlabel2=Sacks
statvalue2=0.0
statlabel3=INTs
statvalue3=1
nfl=RIV576418

Keith Rivers (born May 5, 1986 in Lake Mary, Florida) is an American football linebacker for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bengals ninth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Southern California.

Early life

Rivers was a highly decorated letterman in football at Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida. His awards include include USA Today All-USA first team, Parade All-American, Super Prep All-American, Prep Star All-American, EA Sports All-American, Insiders.com All-American, Super Prep Elite 50, Prep Star Top 100 Dream Team, Lemming Top 10, Super Prep All-Dixie, Prep Star All-Southeast, FOX Sports Net All-South, Gatorade Florida Player of the Year and Florida Class 6A Mr. Football runner-up as a senior linebacker. [USC Trojans, [http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/rivers_keith00.html Keith Rivers] , "USC Player Bio", November 14, 2007.] He played in the 2004 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

College career

Rivers was heavily recruited. Then-University of Florida coach Ron Zook, noted for his recruiting ability, made a strong push, including talking to Rivers at 2 a.m. on National Signing Day in 2003. In the end Rivers went with USC; the Trojans promised Rivers he would wear the #55 jersey, which has traditionally been given to a promising linebacker and includes past players such as Junior Seau, Willie McGinest and Chris Claiborne.Chris Harry, [http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-combine2508feb25,0,7525099.story Rivers lives up to No. 55] , "Orlando Sentinel", February 25, 2008.]

USC linebacker coach Ken Norton, Jr. nicknamed Rivers "the Shark" for his aggressive play on the field, juxtaposed to his polite demeanor off of it.Mark Saxon, [http://www.ocregister.com/sports/rivers-day-carroll-1820565-norton-idaho USC's Shark attack] , "The Orange County Register", August 24, 2007.]

Rivers was on the watch list for the 2006 Bednarik Award, Lombardi Award, Bronco Nagurski Trophy, and Lott Trophy. He was 2006 Rivals.com and coaches first team all-Pac-10. The All-American selection with 78 tackles, Rivers decided to stay for his senior season [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/01/11/usc.rivers.ap/index.html] .

Rivers was a 2007 preseason "Sporting News", Street & Smith's, Lindy's, Phil Steele's, Blue Ribbon and NationalChamps.net All-American. At the end of the 2007 regular season, Rivers was selected to the All-Pacific-10 Conference first team for the second year in a row by league coaches. [http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120307aal.html Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced] , Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007.] He was also selected to the SI.com All-American First Team. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/ncaa/12/10/all.americas/index.html SI.com's All-Americas] , SI.com, December 11, 2007.]

He graduated from USC with a degree in public policy development.James Walker, [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=walker_james&id=3420097&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos2 Rookie Rivers should fill immediate Bengals' needs] , ESPN.com, May 31, 2008, Accessed June 4, 2008.]

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Rivers was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft with the 9th overall pick. He is set to start at the weak-side linebacker position in the 2008 season. Rivers signed a contract with the Bengals on August 5th, ending the 10-day holdout [Bengals ink Rivers [http://www.bengals.com/news/news.asp?story_id=6928] .] The contract is worth $23 million with $15.6 million guaranteed and an additional $2 million in incentives [Keith Rivers at Rotoworld [http://www.rotoworld.com/content/playerpages/player_contract.aspx?sport=NFL&id=4728] ] .

Throughout the 2008 preseason, Rivers wore the jersey No. 58 for the Bengals instead of his desired No. 55, which he wore with privilege at USC, due to the fact that it was already being wore by fellow linebacker Ahmad Brooks. On August 28, Brooks didn't make it through the final roster cuts and was released and signed with the San Francisco 49ers, leaving No. 55 open for Rivers. However, Reebok asked that Rivers buy the remaining stock of the No. 58 Bengals jerseys in his name before he could switch to 55, amounting to $10,000. Rivers was switched to No. 55 by the start of the 2008 season. [ [http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/firstcuts/entry/view/11717/keith_rivers_wants_to_change_his_number;_reebok_politely_asks_rookie_for_$11,000] ] Keith Rivers began his rookie season with 10 tackles in the 17-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. In the following 24-7 loss to the Tennessee Titans, Rivers totaled 8 tackles. In the overtime loss to the New York Giants, Rivers recorded two tackles. In the 20-12 loss to the Cleveland Browns, dropping the Bengals to 0-4, Rivers totaled 8 tackles.

References

External links

* [http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/rivers_keith00.html USC Trojans bio]
* [http://www.bengals.com/team/player.asp?player_id=194 Cincinnati Bengals bio]
* [http://www.yardbarker.com/users/KeithRivers Keith River's Official Blog at Yardbarker]