Cleo Lemon

Cleo Lemon, Jr. was born on August 16, 1979 in Greenwood, Mississippi and is currently a quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as a street free agent in 2002. He played college football at Arkansas State. Lemon has also played for the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins.

Early years
Lemon lettered in both football and basketball at Greenwood High School in Greenwood, Mississippi.

College career
Lemon was a four-year letterman (1997-2000) at Arkansas State, where he played in 42 games during his career. In his four seasons, Lemon completed 551 of 1,128 passes for 7,706 yards with 48 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. He is the school's all-time leader for pass attempts, completions, passing yards and touchdown passes.

Lemon's most productive season came as a sophomore in 1998 when he completed 183 of 387 passes for 2,721 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was the only quarterback in school history to pass for over 400 yards in a game (403), a record broken by Nick Noce, who passed for 418 yards against Memphis on September 18, 2004.

As of 2007, Lemon held a total of 16 records at Arkansas State.

Baltimore Ravens
Despite finishing his collegiate career in 2000, Lemon was not signed by an NFL team until the Baltimore Ravens picked him up on January 10, 2002. He spent time on the practice squad of Berlin Thunder in the NFL Europe. He was released prior to the regular season.

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 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 and Doug Flutie. 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 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 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, Lemon 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, 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 became inactive starting Week 5.

On December 17 in a game against the Buffalo Bills, Lemon replaced starter Joey Harrington 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 versus the New York Jets. 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 on December 31. Lemon played fairly well against the eventual Super Bowl 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 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 was offensive coordinator for the Chargers during Lemon's entire tenure there.

With Joey Harrington moving on to the Atlanta Falcons, Lemon became backup to the newly acquired Trent Green. With an injury to Green in Week 5, Lemon was named the starter for the Dolphin's away game against Cleveland. 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 couldn't stop the Browns. His next start was in Miami's 49-28 loss to New England, 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 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. The three year deal is worth just under $9 million.