Avon Cobourne

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Avon Cobourne (born March 6, 1979 in Camden, New Jersey) is a football running back in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes. He was a runningback for West Virginia University from (1999-2002) before entering the NFL.

[edit] College Career

After graduating from Holy Cross High School in Delran New Jersey, Avon Cobourne entered WVU right after Amos Zereoue, their star runningback from 1996 to 1998, left early for the NFL. He immediately started the 1999 season and never looked back.

As a freshman, Cobourne ranked 13th in the NCAA in rushing with 1,139 yards first in the Big East, and was the top leading freshman rusher in the nation. Cobourne also made 1st-team all-Big East and broke Zereoue's freshman rushing yardage record at West Virginia. Cobourne rushed for 142 yards in only three quarters against Miami of Ohio and 141 yards against Rutgers. His best performances of the season though came against Virginia Tech, whose defense was ranked #1 in the nation against the run, when he ran for 133 yards and against Pitt, when he rushed for a Mountaineer Field record of 210 yards, which was the best single-game performance for a WVU-freshman.

As a sophomore in 2000, Cobourne was Athlon magazine's third runningback in the nation in the preseason. Cobourne again finished in the top 20 in the nation in rushing and earned second-team all-Big East honors. Cobourne only totaled 1,028 yards with 6 TDs that season, both lower than his freshman output, but he was plagued by injuries during the season. He rushed for 132 yards and a TD against Boston College, 166 yards against Syracuse, and then 117 yards against Rutgers before leaving the game with an irritated hip joint. His best performance was in coach Don Nehlen's final game as Mountaineer-coach against Ole Miss in the Music City Bowl when he rushed for 125 yards in the blowout win.

In Cobourne's junior year, he really broke out. Cobourne was a pre-season second-team all-Big East selection and started the season by rushing for 169 yards against Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Cobourne finished the season 14th in the nation rushing with a career-high 1,298 yards and 9 TDs. The season was his third consecutive of gaining over 1,000 yards. Cobourne was named team MVP also and was the only player to rush for over 100 yards against the National Champs, the Miami Hurricanes (132). Cobourne started the season out with a 173 yard performance against Ohio, followed by a 181 yard performance against Kent State. He then rushed for 128 yards against Maryland and then totaled four TDs in two quarters against Rutgers along with 147 yards. He then finished the season with four consecutive 100-yard games. He earned second-team all-Big East honors to end the season.

Going into Cobourne's senior season, he was one of the top prospects for the 2002 Heisman Trophy Race. Although Cobourne did not win the award, he set a school record of most rushing yards in a season with 1,710 yards. The record was broken in the Mountaineers' 2006 season by Steve Slaton, who some fans consider is greater than both Cobourne and Zereoue only as a junior. Cobourne also set a career-high scores with 17 TDs. He rushed for 260 yards and 2 TDs in a win against ECU early in the season, and then rushed for 175 yards and a score in a loss to Miami.

He ended his career with the all-time Big East Conference and WVU rushing record with 5,164 rushing yards, breaking Zereoue's previous record. In all of his four seasons, Cobourne rushed for over 1,000 yards.

Cobourne and Zereoue have been considered the greatest rushers in school history. Often, Zereoue has been held higher than Cobourne, mainly because Zereoue only played 3 seasons while holding the rushing record, while it took Cobourne all 4. But current Mountaineer-back Steve Slaton has been considered by a small group of fans to be better than both Cobourne and Zereoue, and many suspect him to surpass them both.

[edit] Pro Career

Cobourne was signed to the Detroit Lions squad in 2003 after being undrafted. Cobourne played in seven games, gaining 27 yards on seven carries, returning seven kickoffs for 123 yards, and catching four passes for 30 yards. In 2004, Cobourne was moved to the Lions practice squad.

During the 2004 NFL season, Cobourne was allocated to the NFL Europe Cologne Centurions. Cobourne totaled 525 yards on 117 carries in Europe.

Cobourne signed with the Miami Dolphins for the 2005 NFL season, but never played. Cobourne was on the roster along with fellow-Mountaineer Kay-Jay Harris, who played halfback as well.

Cobourne now plays for the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes at runningback. Cobourne wears number 6. Through Cobourne's first season, he totaled 21 yards on seven attempts and 3 fumbles. He also totaled 14 yards on two catches.