Antonio Chatman

Infobox NFLactive


name=Antonio Chatman
currentteam=Cincinnati Bengals
currentnumber=83
currentpositionplain=Wide receiver / Punt returner
birthdate=birth date and age|1979|2|12
birthplace=Jackson, Alabama
heightft=5
heightin=8
weight=182
debutyear=2003
debutteam=Green Bay Packers
college=Cincinnati
undraftedyear=2002
pastteams=
* San Francisco 49ers (2002)*
* Chicago Rush (2002-2003)
* Green Bay Packers (2003-2005)
* Cincinnati Bengals (2006-present):*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
status=Active
nfl=CHA724223

Antonio Tavaras Chatman (born February 12, 1979 in Jackson, Alabama) is an American football wide receiver and punt returner for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at Cincinnati.

College career

Chatman attended the University of Cincinnati where he was a Criminology major.

Professional career

Chatman signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL but was soon released. He then joined the Chicago Rush of the AFL in 2002. After two weeks on the bench behind offensive specialist Joe Douglass, a freak season-ending injury to Douglass during pre-game warmups pushed Chatman into the starting job in Week 3, and he responded with a strong rookie season, leading the Rush in receiving with 74 catches for 1,068 yards and 23 touchdowns, and earning AFL All-Rookie Team honors in the process. He followed that campaign with an even better season in 2003, catching 123 passes for 1,636 yards and 29 touchdowns, and added 2,062 yards and 7 touchdowns on kick returns to set an AFL record for all-purpose yardage. Chatman was named to the All-Arena Second Team and was a runner-up for the league's Offensive Player of the Year award. His success in Chicago attracted the attention of the NFL's Green Bay Packers, and he signed with that team for the 2003 season.

Upon joining the Green Bay Packers, Chatman was largely relegated to a kick returning role, seeing only sparing action as a wide receiver his first season. In 2004, he gradually saw an increased role in the offense at receiver, before finally seeing extensive action as a starter in 2005 due to injuries to Javon Walker and Robert Ferguson. In 2006, he missed several of the Bengals early games due to injury, and eventually was put on injured reserve.

In his second to last game with the Packers, Chatman returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown. It was the first punt returned for touchdown for the Packers, since Allen Rossum did it in 2001.

On September 7, 2007 the Bengals cut him but re-signed him a few days later for the 2007 season.

On February 26, 2008, the Bengals reached a new two year agreement with Chatman.

External links

* [http://www.arenafan.com/players/?page=players&player=3062 Arena football bio]
* [http://www.bengals.com/team/player.asp?player_id=92 Cincinnati Bengals bio]