Ronald Curry Ronald Antonio Curry ( born May 28 , 1979 ) is a former American football wide receiver . He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL Draft after playing college football at North Carolina . Curry has also briefly been a member of the Detroit Lions and St . Louis Rams . Early years . Curry was born in Hampton , Virginia . At Hampton High School in Hampton , Virginia , Curry was an All - American in basketball and football and was awarded the Dial Award for the national high - school scholar - athlete of the year in 1997 . He won the McDonald ' s Slam Dunk contest and was MVP of the McDonald ' s All - American game . By most reports , his high school football coach favored Curry attending the University of Virginia and focusing on football , while his high school basketball coach favored the University of North Carolina to develop Curry into a prospect for the NBA . He verbally committed to play both basketball and football to Virginia before signing instead with rival North Carolina . This made him a very unpopular figure among Virginia fans , who referred to him by such terms as " Benedict Curry " , " Benedict Ronald " , or " WHN " ( an abbreviation of " What ' s his name ? " ) , and voted to make him the " Sports Jerk of the Year " in the Tank McNamara comic strip . Coincidentally , Curry ' s cousin Almondo " Muffin " Curry , a cornerback , later decided to attend Virginia . Ronald Curry broke several Virginia high school football records while attending Hampton High School . He is considered one of the greatest Virginia high school athletes ever , leading his school to three consecutive state titles in football from 1995 to 1997 and one in basketball in 1998 . The 1996 Hampton High School football team went 14 - 0 , outscoring opponents 768 - 83 including a 51 - 0 victory over a previously unbeaten Patrick Henry team in the state championship , and is widely considered to be the best team in Virginia history ; the 1997 team also went 14 - 0 and posted similar numbers . Curry also excelled at defensive back and kick returner in addition to his quarterbacking duties . Michael Vick was in the same district as Curry in high school and was overshadowed by the accomplishments of Curry ' s team . While Vick was also a highly touted prospect , Curry was almost universally rated higher in recruiting rankings . In an interview , Vick said " I felt pressure to compete against Ronald Curry . " College career . At North Carolina , during the " Ronald Curry Era , " Curry set many records including most career passing yards and most career total yards . He was twice named the most valuable player of post - season bowl games , being named the MVP of the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl and the 2001 Peach Bowl . He also played basketball for two years along with Chicago Bears ' defensive end Julius Peppers . Curry went through multiple football coaching changes . He played under 3 different offensive coordinators . In his senior season , his position coach was Gary Tranquill , who had joined the Tar Heels in 2001 after leaving the Virginia staff when Al Groh became coach . Professional career . Oakland Raiders . Curry made his professional regular season debut on November 3 , 2002 , in a 23 - 20 loss to cross - town rival San Francisco 49ers . In that game , Curry lost one fumble . During the preseason , Curry played in three games and lost three fumbles . He played all 16 games of the 2003 season , including two starts , and made five receptions for 31 yards . In 2004 , as the number 3 receiver behind Jerry Porter , he hauled in 50 receptions for 679 yards before injuring his Achilles tendon . Before his injury Curry ' s highlights included 10 receptions in a game against the Colts , a Raiders ' season high . He recorded his first 100 - yard receiving game with 110 yards on six catches in Week 11 at Denver , then followed that up with a nine - catch , 141 - yard performance the next week against Kansas City . He also won the Levitra NFL Play of the Week for his leaping , twisting , one - handed grab in the back of the end zone at Denver in a snowstorm . After an extensive off - season rehabilitation program to repair his torn tendon , Curry unfortunately re - injured the same tendon in week 2 of the 2005 season against the Chiefs and was lost for the rest of the year . Curry returned in 2006 and proved to be one of the few bright spots on an abysmal 2 - 14 last - place Raiders team . He led the team in receiving yards and receptions and had one touchdown while only starting a few games . During the 2006 offseason Curry signed a new 5 - year $ 20 million dollar contract . In 2007 as a starter in Oakland , he opened the regular season with a 10 catch , 133 - yard and one touchdown performance . Curry again underwent surgery on his foot in May 2008 and missed the team ' s first mandatory minicamp on June 3 – 5 . In the season opener on Monday Night Football ( September 8 , 2008 ) , Curry would catch a 4 - yard touchdown reception in the team ' s lopsided loss to the Denver Broncos . After a loss to the New Orleans Saints on October 12 , Curry was benched in favor of rookie receiver Chaz Schilens . However , after an injury to Schilens , Curry started against the Miami Dolphins on November 16 . Curry on that day caught 6 passes for 73 yards and the following week against the Denver Broncos lined up in the Wildcat formation in the shotgun stance ; however , no receiver was open and Curry ran it out of bounds for a gain of one yard . Curry was released by the Oakland Raiders on February 18 , 2009 . Detroit Lions , St . Louis Rams , Baltimore Ravens . Curry was signed by the Detroit Lions on April 16 , 2009 . On July 22 , 2009 , Curry was acquired by the St . Louis Rams from the Lions in a trade for defensive tackle Orien Harris . Harris had been acquired from Cincinnati two months earlier in a trade for running back Brian Leonard . The Rams released Curry on September 5 , 2009 . He reportedly worked out for the Baltimore Ravens on October 13 , 2009 but was not signed . Personal . Curry was raised by his grandparents until Mattie Curry , his grandmother , became too ill to parent him full time . Ron and Almondo Curry were then taken in by Lillian Crawford , the great - grandmother of their very good friend Kenneth Crawford . The Curries remained very close to their grandmother until her death in October 2000 , days before a UNC football game against Virginia - the school that Curry declined to attend in favor of UNC after initially committing . Curry then met a fellow UNC student , junior Stacie Jones , and in March 2001 they became engaged . They married not long after he moved to Oakland after being drafted by the Raiders . In July 2004 , they had their first child , a daughter , Raley Camille Curry . Their second daughter , Emery Mattie , followed 3 years later . On February 23 , 2010 they had their third child ( and first son ) , Carter Wallace Curry . Carter was born in Mooresville ( near Charlotte area ) .