Darren Sproles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| San Diego Chargers — No. 43 | |
| Running back Return specialist |
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| Date of birth: June 20, 1983 | |
| Place of birth: Waterloo, Iowa | |
| Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | Weight: 181 lb (82 kg) |
| National Football League debut | |
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| 2005 for the San Diego Chargers | |
| Career history | |
| College: Kansas State | |
| NFL Draft: 2005 / Round: 4 / Pick: 130 | |
Teams:
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Stats at NFL.com | |
Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983 in Waterloo, Iowa) is an American football running back and return specialist for the San Diego Chargers.
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[edit] Early years
Darren Sproles attended Rolling Ridge Elementary, then Oregon Trail Junior High, followed by Olathe North High School all in Olathe, Kansas and was a star in football, earning the name "Tank". Sproles gained popularity among his peers with his soft-spoken personality and good nature towards everyone. Darren was a rare breed: An athlete with all-american type abilities who was also humble and ego-free. While at Olathe North, he also gained the nickname "Little Barry" due to his resemblance on the football field to that of NFL Hall of Famer Barry Sanders. Interestingly, Darren's mother was once quoted stating that when Darren was born, his thighs were ridiculously large. Henceforth, his mother predicted that he would become a star runner. In football, for two consecutive years, he was an All-Sunflower League honoree, All-Metro honoree, and an All-State selection, and he was twice named The Kansas City Star Player of the Year, and as a senior, he was the Kansas Hall of Fame Player of the Year and the USA Today Kansas Player of the year. In his days at Olathe North High School he racked up two Kansas 6A State titles. In his three short years, he is recognized as one of the most distinguished smaller player in the history of the NFL.
In a Fox Sports interview, Sproles revealed that his favorite dinosaur was a Velociraptor. When watching Jurassic Park at the age of 10, Sproles was quick to question the portrayal of the raptors without feathers. 14 years later it was indeed discovered that he was correct.
[edit] College career
Darren Sproles played college football at Kansas State University from 2000 to 2004, starting all games in his last two seasons and setting 23 school football records.[1] He finished 11th on the all-time college rushing yards list, with the 6th most all-purpose yards in NCAA history. He led all Division I-A teams in rushing yards in 2003 with 1,986. He also led Kansas State University to its first Big 12 Conference championship in 2003, and a win over # 1 ranked Oklahoma, 35-7. That same year he finished 5th in the Heisman voting.
[edit] NFL career
[edit] 2005 NFL Draft
Sproles was drafted by the Chargers 130th overall in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft.
| Pre-draft measureables | |||||||||
| Weight | 40 yd | 20 ss | 3-cone | Vert | BP | Wonderlic | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 187 lb (85 kg)* | 4.47s* | 4.15s* | 6.94s* | 35.5 in (90.2 cm)* | 23*[2] | X | |||
(* represents NFL Combine)
[edit] 2007 NFL Season
On November 11, 2007, in the Chargers' 23-21 upset over the Indianapolis Colts, Sproles made history by returning a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns—the first player in league history ever to do so. He returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for the game's first score. After Nate Kaeding's field goal increased the Chargers' lead to 10-0, Sproles returned a Hunter Smith punt 46 yards for another touchdown for a 16-0 lead. Sproles became the first NFL player to return a Kick return and a Punt Return for a touchdown in the same game since Dante Hall did it in 2003.
On December 16, 2007, Sproles ran 1 yard for his first career rushing touchdown against the Detroit Lions. This was followed up with an 11 yard run for his second rushing touchdown, capping off his first 100+ yards rushing game.
Darren Sproles is known for a play against the Seattle Seahawks on which he was handed the ball on a draw play on 3rd and 21. Darren Sproles got the first down breaking several tackles and running 5 yards ahead of the first down marker.
At 5'6", Sproles is currently the shortest NFL player.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ YouTube - Darren Sproles
- ^ Packers.com » News » Stories » April 20, 2005: Gil Brandt's NFL Draft Analysis By Position: Running Backs
- ^ [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/players/11/08/nfl.rookies1114/ NFL Rookies Special: are we having fun yet?]. SI.com (2005-11-14). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
