Toby Gerhart

Toby Gerhart

refer to caption

Gerhart with the Jacksonville Jaguars
No. -- Free agent
Position: Running back
Personal information
Date of birth: (1987-03-28) March 28, 1987
Place of birth: Norco, California
Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight: 231 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school: Norco (CA)
College: Stanford
NFL draft: 2010 / Round: 2 / Pick: 51
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2015
Rushing yards: 1,675
Rushing average: 4.2
Rushing TDs: 7
Receptions: 100
Receiving yards: 809
Receiving TDs: 3
Player stats at NFL.com

Toby Gerhart (born March 28, 1987) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for Stanford University, and was a unanimous All-American. In 2009 Gerhart won the Doak Walker Award[1] and was the runner-up for the 2009 Heisman Trophy.[2] He received 1,276 points in the Heisman voting, coming in second to Mark Ingram, Jr., who received 1,304 points; the 28-point margin was the closest vote in Heisman history.[3] Gerhart had a breakout senior season in 2009, leading all running backs in the nation in rushing yards, touchdowns, and points scored, and setting several Pac-10 and school records. He held the Stanford record for most rushing yards in a season (1,871) until Christian McCaffrey broke it in 2015, but still holds Cardinal records for touchdowns in a season (28), and most touchdowns in a career (44).

Early years

Gerhart was born in Norco, California. He had a record-breaking career at running back for Norco High School. He set a California state record for rushing yards with 9,662 yards in his career. As of December 2009, Gerhart holds the third highest career total of running yards in national high school football history.[4] He led Norco High School to the CIF Division 5 Southern Section football championship on December 9, 2005. Gerhart was named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of California and was named California's Mr. Football by Cal-Hi Sports. Gerhart also played baseball and graduated as a valedictorian of his high school class.[5]

College career

Gerhart's high school statistics garnered him interest from many top college football programs. He ultimately committed to Stanford University, where he played for the Stanford Cardinal football team from 2006 to 2009.

2006

In his freshman year, Gerhart backed up Anthony Kimble at the halfback position, starting one game. He rushed for 375 yards for the season, as Stanford struggled to a 1-11 record.

2007

In 2007, Gerhart played in only one game, against San Jose State, in which he rushed for 140 yards and one touchdown before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Gerhart (no. 7) carries the ball during the 2008 Big Game.

2008

In 2008, Gerhart had a breakout season under the direction of then-running backs coach Willie Taggart.[6] He set the Stanford single-season rushing record with 1,136 yards, breaking Tommy Vardell's school record of 1,084 yards. Gerhart was the fifth player in Stanford history to run for 1,000 yards or more in a season, after Darrin Nelson, Brad Muster, Jon Volpe, and Vardell. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns, then the second highest single season total in Stanford history. His 8 games with 100 or more rushing yards were a Stanford record. He tied a Stanford record with four rushing touchdowns against Washington State. Gerhart averaged 5.4 yards per carry and finished third in the Pac-10 in rushing.

2009

In 2009, Gerhart had 1,871 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns.[7] Gerhart led the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards (1,871), rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (28), and points scored (172 points). His 3,522 career rushing yards are the third most in Stanford history, behind Darrin Nelson's 4,033 yards and Stepfan Taylor's 4,300 yards.

Gerhart rushed for over 100 yards in 11 of his 13 games in 2009. On September 26, 2009, he became only the sixth person in Stanford history to rush for 200 yards in a game, with 200 yards on 27 carries against Washington. On November 7, 2009, Gerhart recorded his second 200-yard game of the season, running for 223 yards against the 7th-ranked Oregon Ducks, breaking the Stanford single-game rushing record previously held by Jon Volpe. On November 28, Gerhart ran for 205 yards and three rushing touchdowns in a 45-38 win over Notre Dame. This was his third 200-yard game of the season. Gerhart again tied the school record for rushing touchdowns in a game by running for four touchdowns against Cal. Gerhart also threw one pass in 2009, completing it for an 18-yard touchdown against Notre Dame.

Gerhart led Stanford to an 8-5 record and its first bowl berth in eight years. He finished the season first in Division 1A in rushing yards (1,871) and rushing touchdowns (28).[8]

Gerhart was a consensus 2009 First-team All-America selection. He was named the 2009 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. He was one of five finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy and finished in second place behind Mark Ingram by 28 points, the slimmest margin in the trophy's 74-year history. Gerhart is the winner of the 2009 Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the nation and of the Jim Brown Trophy presented to the top running back in college football by the Touchdown Club of Columbus. Gerhart won the Touchdown Club of Columbus' Archie Griffin Award, which is awarded after the completion of the bowl games to college football's MVP for the season.

Gerhart was a starting outfielder for the baseball team. He passed up the opportunity to play professional baseball after the 2009 season to return for his senior year at Stanford.[9]

He majored in Management Science and Engineering.[10]

College statistics

Season Rushing Receiving
Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD
2006 106 375 3.5 38 0 15 124 8.3 16 0
2007 12 140 11.7 48 1 0 0 0 0 0
2008 210 1,136 5.4 46 15 13 114 8.8 21 0
2009 343 1,871 5.5 61 28 11 157 14.3 33 0
Total 671 3,522 5.2 61 44 39 395 10.1 33 0

Awards and honors

Gerhart's Doak Walker Award on display at the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame

Records

Pac-12 records

Stanford career records

Stanford single season records (2009)

Stanford single game records

Professional career

Baseball

Gerhart was offered a lucrative contract to play baseball after the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft in June, but opted to play football during the 2009 college football season.[12]

Football

Pre-Draft

Due to his knee injury in 2007, he had a potential additional year of college football eligibility. He chose to forgo this additional year and enter the 2010 NFL Draft.[13]

Minnesota Vikings

Pre-draft measurables
Ht WtArm lengthHand size 40-yd dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert Broad BPWonderlic
6 ft 0 in 231 lb32 in9 5/8 in 4.50 s 4.25 s 6.94 s 38 in 9 ft 9 in 20 reps30
All values are from the NFL Combine
Gerhart in 2013.

Gerhart had the highest Wonderlic score among running backs with 30.

Gerhart was selected in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft, the 51st overall selection by the Minnesota Vikings. A four-year contract was signed on July 30, and Gerhart's first career rushing touchdown as a professional came in a win against the Washington Redskins on November 28, 2010. Gerhart started five games for the Vikings during the 2011 regular season and rushed for 531 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 11, 2014, Gerhart signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The deal includes $4.5 million guaranteed.[14] On December 5, 2015, the Jacksonville Jaguars placed Gerhart on injured reserve.[15] He was released by the Jaguars on March 10, 2016.[16]

Personal

Gerhart's father Todd was a running back at Cal State Fullerton, played in the USFL, and coached him in high school.[17] Toby is the oldest of six children, all of whom are current or former collegiate athletes. Brother Garth played at Arizona State University and is an offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, while his three sisters (who are triplets) play softball: Kelsey[18] and Teagan[19] play at Stanford, and Whitley plays at Cal Poly.[20] Gerhart's youngest brother Coltin is currently a redshirt freshman at Arizona State University.[21]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2010 NFL Draft RB ranking", CBS Sports, retrieved February 8, 2010
  2. ↑ "McCoy among five finalists for Heisman". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Ingram delivers Alabama its first Heisman". rivals.com. Retrieved December 13, 2009.
  4. ↑ Stephens, Mitch (December 11, 2009). "Starting Point: Heisman finalists rated on high school credentials". maxpreps.com. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  5. ↑ "Scout.com: Toby Gerhart profile". Scout.scout.com. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  6. ↑ Dell, Alan. "Commentary | Willie Taggart hasn't wasted a second since taking over the head football job at USF | South Florida Bulls | Bradenton Herald". Bradenton.com. Retrieved 2013-01-07.
  7. ↑ "Stanford Cardinal depth chart".
  8. ↑ "FBS (Division I-A) Player Rushing Statistics - 2009". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  9. ↑ Baseball - Stanford University Official Athletic Site
  10. ↑ Kiefer, David (2009-12-08). "Toby Gerhart: From Dream to Reality". Stanford Athletics. Retrieved 2010-01-21.
  11. ↑ "Pac-10 Named 2009-10 Tom Hansen Conference Medal Winners". CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
  12. ↑ "No Easy Catch".
  13. ↑ "2010 NFL Draft Early Entries & Projections".
  14. ↑ Toby Gerhart agrees to three-year deal with Jaguars
  15. ↑ "Jaguars place RB Toby Gerhart on IR". www.jaguars.com. Retrieved 2015-12-07.
  16. ↑ Smith, Michael David (March 10, 2016). "Jaguars cut Toby Gerhart". profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  17. ↑ FitzGerald, Tom (2009-11-18). "Stanford's star stays grounded". SFGate.com. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  18. ↑ "Player Bio: Kelsey Gerhart". Stanford University. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  19. ↑ "Player Bio: Teagan Gerhart". Stanford University. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  20. ↑ "Player Bio: Whitley Gerhart". California Polytechnic State University. Retrieved 2010-03-20.
  21. ↑ "High school football playoffs: Round One results :: The Valley News". Myvalleynews.com. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2013-01-07.

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