AJ Rayford

My name is AJ Rayford. First and foremost I am a believer in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I love to spend time with my family when I don’t have anything going on with sports. I also love listening to my favorite artist, Rod Wave, and playing video games. I have been playing multiple sports since the age of 5. At the age of 8, I was blessed to be able to compete at AYF Nationals in Orlando, FL finishing 7th in the country . I was one of the first players in our youth football organization to make it to Nationals 4 years in a row with 2 different levels . We finished 7th, 3rd, 2nd and 8th in the country at our level over four years. I was also blessed to win a state title with my 7th grade middle school basketball team. The following year, we were 8th grade state runner-ups having a winning streak of 46-1 over two years. When coming to high school, I earned a full academic scholarship being the first full scholarship recipient of the Zac Plantz Foundation. My Freshman year, I played JV in both football and basketball. My Sophomore year I started on Varsity in both sports as well at Providence Catholic.. I transferred high schools and now attend Glenbard West High School. This year in Football (Junior Year) I was honored to be selected 1st Team All Conference and the All State Academic Team. My dream is to continue to play football in college. I am looking to major in Business and minor in Engineering. I am fortunate to have a father that played professionally in baseball and played multiple sports in high school. My mother graduated HS as the Valedictorian so I’ve been blessed to have gifts from both my parents academically and athletically. I am looking for a program that is all about Faith, Family, Academics and Team. I am also looking to go to a place where I would continue to be developed and have a game plan for my 4 to 5 years there where I would ultimately graduate and set myself up for the next 40 plus years with a career. That could be to play at the next level which my dream is to play in the NFL, but I also want to have a plan in action for when I do stop playing I have my career lined up.