Zac Stacy

Zachary "Zac" Latrell Stacy (born April 9, 1991) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at Vanderbilt. He also played for the New York Jets.

High school career

Stacy was an under-the-radar type of player in which a few schools had shown interest. Officially, two schools offered a scholarship to him: Vanderbilt and UAB, and he received some interest from Alabama, Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss.^[1]

Stacy was a four-year starter at Bibb County High School. As a junior, he rushed for 1,668 yards and 26 TDs, and caught 27 passes for 228 yards while playing quarterback, running back, and wide receiver. Stacy received First Team 4A All-State honors, the Division 4A Player of the Year award, and was an Honorable Mention ASWA All-State. As a senior, he rushed for 2,407 yards on 247 carries, good for an average of 9.7 yards per carry. He scored 36 TDs, helping Bibb County to 10-2 mark and a trip to the second round of 4A state playoffs. He scored seven TDs against Jemison High School and was finalist for Alabama's 4A Mr. Football honor. He also named to the ASWA 4A All-State First Team, the Birmingham News All-State Second Team, and The Tuscaloosa News Super 11. Perhaps the biggest honor Stacy received was being named Division 4A Player of the Year. A two-time West Alabama Player of the Year, Stacy ended his prep career with 5,863 rushing yards and 76 total TDs.^[2][3]

College career

2009

At Vanderbilt, Stacy made his first career start as a true freshman against Western Carolina due to an injury to starting tailback Jared Hawkins, who was sidelined with a bad foot. Stacy teamed with Warren Norman, with the pair combining for 240 yards on the ground. It was the first time in school history that two freshmen had rushed for over 100 yards in the same game. Stacy's total of 135 yards was a school record for a freshman. Norman, alternating series with Stacy, also went over the century mark with 105. Stacy played in 10 of the 12 games in 2009, starting 4 games. He missed the games against Ole Miss and South Carolina with a lingering ankle injury that also limited his production against Mississippi State and Rice. He finished the season as the team's second-leading rusher behind Norman with 478 yards and three touchdowns on 107 carries.^[4]

2010

As a sophomore, Stacy earned starts against SEC opponents LSU,^[5] Georgia^[6] and Florida.^[7] He was a productive offensive force for the Commodores until his season ended prematurely with a head injury in the first half of the Florida game. This injury caused Stacy to miss the final three games.^[8] He once again finished the year as the team's second-leading rusher (331 yards).

2011

Stacy earned Vanderbilt's MVOP award (Most Valuable Offensive Player) and set the single-season record for rushing with 1,193 yards, breaking a mark set by Corey Harris in 1991. He also broke the record for rushing TDs with 14. Stacy ended the year as the 3rd-leading rusher in the SEC, earning 2nd team All-SEC honors. In 2011, he was the 4th person all-time for a Vanderbilt player to rush for over 1,000 yards (1072), and first since 1995 (Jermaine Johnson). Stacy had the most rushing attempts (201) since 1995 (Jermaine Johnson) (267) moved up to 8th on all-time Vanderbilt rushing yards in a career (2,002), and averaged 91.8 rushing yards per-game (YPG) and 117 YPG at home. He tied with Allama Matthews TE, 1982 with most TDs totals by a single player with 14. He ranked 2nd all time with 84 points, tied with Matthews behind Jack Jenkins (90) points in 1941, and rushed for 3 TDs 3 times vs. Army,^[9] Kentucky^[10] and at Wake Forest^[11] Had his second 100-yard game against Ole Miss.^[12] He completed first pass of his career, passing to Jordan Matthews for a 43-yard TD pass, and had 198 rushing yards against Army, 128 yards against Arkansas^[13] Season-high 28 carries against Kentucky^[10] and again at Wake Forest. Stacy was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week for 135-yard, three-score performance against the Wildcats on Senior Day. He ran for 184 yards at Wake Forest to break team single-season record, and scored in seven of team's final eight games.

Vs. Arkansas Razorbacks

2012

Stacy finished the season with 1,034 rushing yards on 182 attempts; against Presbyterian^[14] achieved 8 att for 174 yds, against Auburn 27 att for 169 yds,^[15] and against Wake Forest 21 att for 180 yds.^[16] Following the season, Stacy was voted second team All-SEC. He became the first Vanderbilt player and the eighth SEC playerto rush for 1,000 yards in back to back seasons, and the first Commodore to surpass 3,000 yards rushing, as he racked up 3,143 yards on the ground for his career. He was just the 30th player in FBS history to do so. Stacy also set the record for the longest rush (90 yards) by a Vanderbilt player. He also graduated in Special Education.

Honors

• 2012 Second Team All-SEC (AP), Maxwell Award Watch List, Doak Walker Award watch list.
• 2011 Second Team All-SEC (Coaches), Second Team All-SEC (AP) SEC Academic Honor Roll, MVP FAM Music City Bowl.

College career statistics

^[17]

Professional career

Pre-draft

Stacy was considered a talented back prior to the 2013 NFL Draft and had a strong showing at the 2013 NFL Combine. Stacy was selected by the Rams in the 5th Round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

St. Louis Rams

2013 season

Stacy was drafted in the fifth round with the 160th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. In his first NFL game, Stacy had one run for 4 yards and no receiving yards against the Arizona Cardinals.^[19] Stacy got his first start on October 6, 2013, against the Jacksonville Jaguars but was forced out of the game in the fourth quarter due to a rib injury.^[20] He was the leading running back in the game with 14 carries for 78 yards. In Week 6 against the Houston Texans, Stacy gained 79 rushing yards on 18 carries.

On October 28, 2013 on Monday Night Football, Stacy had arguably the best game of his rookie season against the Seattle Seahawks, getting a season high 134 rushing yards on 26 carries.^[21] The following week, Stacy turned in a second 100+ rushing yard game in a 28-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans, with 127 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns were the his first career rushing touchdowns and the first rushing touchdowns for the Rams during the season. He also had six catches for a career high 51 yards.^[19]

New York Jets

Shortly after the Rams selected running back Todd Gurley in the 2015 NFL Draft, Stacy requested to be traded.^[22] The Rams traded Stacy to the New York Jets in exchange for New York's 2015 seventh round (224th overall) pick on May 2, 2015.^[23] On November 12, 2015, Stacy broke his ankle against the Buffalo Bills and was placed on injured reserve the following day.^[24]

Stacy was waived by the Jets on July 27, 2016 after failing his physical.^[25]

Retirement

On February 16, 2017, Stacy announced his retirement from the NFL.^[26] The early retirement was due to injuries and also to take care of his brother, who has Down Syndrome.

Career statistics

Source:^[27]

References