Athletes - T.J. Houshmandzadeh

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	Athletes - T.J. Houshmandzadeh

Touraj (T.J.) Houshmandzadeh, Jr. (born September 26, 1977 in Victorville, California,) is an American-born wide receiver for the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals. He was a seventh-round pick in the 2001 NFL draft by the Bengals.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh was a high school dropout who later earned his GED and enrolled at Cerritos College where he helped his team win two national championships. Believing he was too tall to play running back, he voluntarily moved to wide receiver. Based on his junior college performance, Houshmandzadeh was offered a scholarship at Oregon State, where he and current Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson were teammates.

After a modest rookie season (21 receptions for 228 yards,) questions about Houshmandzadeh's speed and quickness led to him slimming down to his current playing weight of about 200 pounds, which increased his on-field performance markedly. T.J. Houshmandzadeh is more of a "possession" receiver (football parlance for a receiver who's not a particularly fast runner,) than Chad Johnson, but has shown an ability to gain yards after the catch and has displayed a willingness to make catches in the middle of the field, which often leaves him vulnerable to hard tackles. He's been called one of the NFL's most underrated players by many pundits.

"They're both unique," says Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer of his primary receivers. "They do completely different things well and complement each other perfectly. T.J.'s a physical guy; a physical blocker, physical when he gets the ball. He's like (the Pittsburgh Steelers') Hines Ward."

Houshmandzadeh missed almost all of the 2003 season with a severe hamstring injury. In 2004 he was listed as the team's third receiver behind Chad Johnson and primary receiver Peter Warrick. However, Warrick went down with an injury and Houshmandzadeh was promoted to number two receiver for the first time in his professional career. He took full advantage of his opportunity to prove himself, recording 73 receptions for 978 yards and 4 touchdowns while also adding another 51 yards on the ground with 6 carries on receiver reverse plays. With the release of the talented but troubled Warrick during the 2005 training camp (he would later sign with the Seattle Seahawks,) T.J. Houshmandzadeh was promoted to the starting lineup where he and Chad Johnson have gained notoriety for being among the NFL's most exciting receiving tandems. Houshmandzadeh is credited as one of the reasons for the Bengals' resurgence and was rewarded by the Bengals' organization with a 5-year, $13 million contract and an undisclosed bonus.

Early in the 2005 season, T.J. Houshmandzadeh suffered an injury to his right hand, which limited his effectiveness for several games, and he's currently battling a recurring minor foot injury.

The pony-tailed T.J. Houshmandzadeh is of mixed Persian and black ancestry. He is named after his father, a native Iranian, who left his family and returned to Iran in the mid-1980's. Houshmandzadeh says he recalls nothing of his biological father and knows only what he looks like from photographs. Despite being raised by his mother, he took on his father's surname rather than his mother's, which, ironically, is "Johnson," which is a common surname on the Bengals team, shared by not only by Chad Johnson, but running backs Rudi and Jeremi and linebacker Landon.

In the offseason, Houshmandzadeh resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Kaci, and his two daughters, Karrington and Kennedi.

Although he tends to keep his faith private, Houshmandzadeh has mentioned that he is a Christian.

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Athletes - T.J. Houshmandzadeh

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