George "Buster" Rhymes (born January 27, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). He is the eponym of rapper Busta Rhymes.
Biography
Born January 27, 1962, in Miami, Rhymes grew up in Liberty City, a neighborhood of Miami, Florida. He attended Miami Northwestern Senior High School, where he played basketball, football, and track. In football, he scored nineteen touchdowns in his senior year, and in basketball, he averaged around 29 points per game. He was named Dade County's Athlete of the Year for 1979–80.
Rhymes committed to the University of Oklahoma under coach Barry Switzer in 1980. He chose Oklahoma to elude Miami, which was experiencing riots at the time, and to follow the footsteps of his favorite player, Elvis Peacock. as he maintained a grade point average of 2.6. Upon his return to play, he was made a receiver, with the running back position being filled by Marcus Dupree. Rhymes played in two NFL seasons for the Vikings in 1985 and 1986.
In 1985, Rhymes set an NFL single-season record for kick return yardage with 1,345 yards; the league record has since been broken, but the total stood as a Vikings franchise record until broken by Cordarrelle Patterson in the final game of the 2013 season.
After leaving the NFL, Rhymes went to Canada and played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. He spent two seasons there (1988 and 1989), winning a Grey Cup championship ring in 1988.