Kassim Osgood

Infobox NFLactive


caption=Osgood in February 2008
currentteam=San Diego Chargers
currentnumber=81
currentpositionplain=Wide receiver
Gunner
birthdate=birth date and age|1980|5|20
birthplace=Boston, Massachusetts
heightft=6
heightin=5
weight=220
debutyear=2003
debutteam=San Diego Chargers
highlights=
* 2x Pro Bowl selection (2006, 2007)
* 1x All-Pro selection (2006)
college=San Diego State
draftyear=
draftround=
draftpick=
pastteams=
* San Diego Chargers (2003-"present")
nfl=OSG474619

Kassim Osgood (pronEng|Ka-SIM) (born May 20, 1980) is a National Football League wide receiver and top special teams player for the San Diego Chargers out of San Diego State.

Osgood was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Salinas, California, where he graduated from North Salinas High School. Osgood played in Jaycees All-Star game at Salinas High School in 1998. He scored 2 touchdowns in the game and the East beat the west by the largest margin in the history of the series 37-0, and this record still stands today.

While wearing the #1 for San Diego State, Kassim was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference in 2002 when he ranked second in the nation with 108 catches and fourth in nation with average of 119.4 yards per game for total of 1,552 yards. He and teammate J. R. Tolver (Dallas Cowboys) combined to set NCAA records for receiving yards in a season by teammates with 3,337 yards and catches with 236. Kassim was also a Division I-AA All-America at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo before transferring to play for the San Diego State Aztecs. While at Cal Poly-SLO, he led the nation in receiving yards as sophomore while ranking second in receiving yards per game and sixth in catches per game. Kassim set an NCAA I-AA record with 376 yards receiving in a game against Northern Iowa. Kassim earned his degree in Sociology.

In 2007, Kassim made a cameo appearance as a Marine in the first season finale of the CBS drama "Jericho".

NFL career

an Diego Chargers

Osgood has typically been the fourth or fifth receiver for the Chargers during his career. He saw some playing time in his first two seasons with the team, playing in all 16 games and catching two touchdowns each season. In 2004, he led the Chargers' wide receivers with a 20.5 yard average per catch. However, his time on the field has decreased since after the 2004 season and since then he has become primarily a special teams player. With TE Antonio Gates as the top target, the acquisition of Chris Chambers from Miami via trade, the development of Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd (both similar receivers to Osgood) and the selection of LSU's Craig Davis in the first round of the 2007 NFL draft, Osgood's opportunities have become limited.

Prior to the 2006 season, he signed a four-year extension and assumed he would become a bigger part of the offense, but that did not happen. Osgood expressed frustration with his role in San Diego and remarked "I'm going to be a great receiver some day – probably not in San Diego." [ [http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/chargers/20061020-9999-1s20chnotes.html SignOnSanDiego.com > San Diego Chargers - Osgood accepts his role ] ]

Osgood also announced that he felt he was not given a fair chance to be a wide receiver after the 2007 season, so he is reportedly holding out on training camp.

Osgood was named as a member of the 2007 Pro Bowl and 2008 Pro Bowl squads, both times as the AFC special teams representative.

Notes

External links

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=6664 Player profile]