Darren Sproles

Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983) is a former NFL running back who now works as a coaching intern for the Houston Texans. He played college football at Kansas State, where he became the school’s all-time leading rusher and a first-team All-American. The San Diego Chargers picked him in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL draft, and he later played for the New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles. In 2021, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Sproles was born in Waterloo, Iowa, and attended Olathe North High School in Olathe, Kansas. He has worked to overcome a childhood speech impediment. Nicknamed “Tank” because he weighed 10 pounds at birth, he was a two-time All-Sunflower League, All-Metro, and All-State selection, and twice named The Kansas City Star Player of the Year. As a senior, he earned the Kansas Hall of Fame Player of the Year and USA Today Kansas Player of the Year honors. Over his high school career, he rushed for 5,230 yards (8.4 yards per carry) and 79 touchdowns. He was a high school All-American according to Student Sports Magazine and won the Thomas A. Simone Trophy. As a junior, he rushed for 2,031 yards in nine games; as a senior, he ran for 2,485 yards and 49 touchdowns, leading Olathe North to a 12–0 record and a Kansas 6A state title.

Sproles also excelled in track, finishing second in the state in the 200 meters as a junior (21.6 seconds) and placing fourth in the 100 meters (10.93 seconds) and third in the 200 meters (22.04 seconds) at the Class 6A state meet. His personal bests are 10.6 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.6 seconds in the 200 meters.

At Kansas State from 2001 to 2004, Sproles started all games in his final two seasons and set 23 school records. He debuted in 2001 against New Mexico State, carrying four times for 49 yards and a touchdown, and finished the season with 28 carries for 210 yards and one touchdown in six games. In 2002, his role grew: he rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown against Western Kentucky, 121 yards and three touchdowns at Colorado, 110 yards and two touchdowns against Kansas, 103 yards and two touchdowns against Iowa State, and 159 yards and three touchdowns against Nebraska.

He ended the season with 1,465 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. In 2003, he had 175 yards and a touchdown against California, 152 yards and three touchdowns against Massachusetts, 201 yards and three touchdowns at Iowa State, and 273 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries against Missouri. In the Big 12 Championship win over top-ranked Oklahoma, he totaled 235 rushing yards, 88 receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown. He finished the season with an NCAA-leading 1,986 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, placing fifth in Heisman Trophy voting.

He graduated with a degree in speech pathology. In 2004, he opened with 221 yards and a touchdown against Western Kentucky, ran for 292 yards and a touchdown against Louisiana–Lafayette, and added 135 yards and two touchdowns against Nebraska, 160 yards and two touchdowns against Missouri, and 167 yards and a touchdown against Iowa State. He finished the season with 1,318 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Sproles ranks 11th all-time in college rushing yards and sixth in all-purpose yards. He was inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021.

The Chargers drafted Sproles with the 130th overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft. He spent his rookie season as the third-string running back behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner, handling kick and punt returns. He missed the entire 2006 season on injured reserve after breaking his ankle in the preseason. He was named a kick returner on the Chargers 50th Anniversary Team. In 2011, he signed with the New Orleans Saints as a free agent. That season, he set the NFL record for most single-season all-purpose yards (2,696), with career highs of 603 rushing yards (6.9 yards per carry), 710 receiving yards, and nine total touchdowns. He is the only player in NFL history to record 2,200-plus all-purpose yards in four consecutive seasons (2008–2011). He shares the record for most receptions in a playoff game (15). He ranks sixth in NFL history in career all-purpose yards (19,696).