Todd Gurley

Early years

Gurley attended Tarboro High School in Tarboro, North Carolina, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball, and track. He played running back and defensive back during his junior season, totalling 1,472 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, as well as 79 tackles, an interception, and a forced fumble. He was named Rocky Mount Telegram All-Area Offensive Player of the Year for the 2010 season. As a senior in 2011, he was the North Carolina Associated Press Player of the Year after totalling 2,600 yards and 38 touchdowns. Gurley helped the Vikings football team win the 2A North Carolina state championship, rushing for 242 yards and four touchdowns in the championship game against Lincolnton High School. In the semifinals, Northside had shut down the state's leading rusher, Northside's Shaquan Johnson, who entered the game with 3,083 rushing yards.

Gurley was also a world-class hurdler and sprinter for the school's track & field team. He competed for Team USA in the 110-metres hurdles at the 2011 World Youth Championships in Athletics, where he placed 3rd in the prelims with a career-best time of 13.66 seconds, but finished 15th overall in the semifinals. Also a top competitor in the 100-meter dash, he ran a personal-best time of 10.70 seconds in the prelims of the 2011 NCHSAA 2A State Track Meet, placing 2nd.

Gurley was considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, and was listed as the fifth best running back in his class. He committed to the University of Georgia to play college football under then-head coach Mark Richt.

2012

Gurley began his freshman season backing up redshirt sophomore Ken Malcome. In his first game against the Buffalo Bulls, he rushed for 100 yards on eight carries with two touchdowns and also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Gurley took over as the starter the second game of the season against SEC East opponent Missouri and rushed for 65 yards on 10 carries.

In the 2012 season, Gurley started 12 of 14 games and rushed for 1,385 yards on 222 carries with 17 touchdowns. Against Georgia Southern, Gurley became the second true freshman in Georgia history to rush for 1,000 yards, the only other being Herschel Walker in 1980. After the season, Gurley was named First-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press. He was one of two true freshman running backs to accomplish this feat in 2012, the other being T. J. Yeldon of Alabama.

2013

On August 31, in Georgia's season opener at Clemson's Memorial Stadium, Gurley led the Bulldogs with a career-high 154 rushing yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns. Even though the Bulldogs lost the game 38-35, Gurley had an impressive performance against Clemson which included a 75-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter. In 10 games, he rushed for 989 yards on 165 carries with 10 touchdowns. After the season, Gurley was named Second-Team All-SEC by the Associated Press.

In the spring of 2013, Gurley joined the Georgia Bulldogs indoor track team. He competed in the 60-meter hurdles, and recorded the seventh-fastest time in school history at 8.12 seconds, to take sixth place at the VT Elite Meet.

2014

On October 9, 2014, Gurley was indefinitely suspended by the University of Georgia over an alleged violation of NCAA rules. It only took two days of investigation to determine that Gurley had received $3,000 over two years for signed autographs and memorabilia. Gurley would miss the Missouri and Arkansas games before the NCAA upheld its decision to suspend Gurley for four total games. Gurley sat out for two more games until he was eligible to play against Auburn in their annual rivalry game. In his first game back from suspension in November, Gurley tore his ACL against Auburn, ending his junior season and his career at the University of Georgia. He finished the 2014 season with 911 rushing yards and nine touchdowns. Gurley decided to forego his senior season and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.

2015 season: Rookie year

Gurley was selected in the first round with the 10th overall pick by the St. Louis Rams in the 2015 NFL Draft. Gurley's rehabilitation went ahead of schedule and during the team's preseason, while he did not play, he practiced without pads on. Soon after, Gurley was medically cleared for full contact by St. Louis team physicians. On September 27, 2015, in Week 3, he made his NFL debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was eased into action and finished the game with 6 rushes for 9 yards in the 12-6 loss. The following week, the Rams visited the undefeated Arizona Cardinals for an NFC West divisional matchup. Again Gurley started slow with just 2 rushing yards at halftime, but rushed for 144 yards in the second half as the Rams edged the Cardinals by a score of 24-22. The next three games against the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, and the San Francisco 49ers would see Gurley rush for at least 128 rushing yards per game. He scored his first NFL touchdown on October 25, 2015 against the Browns. With 566 yards in his first four NFL starts, Gurley became the most prolific rusher in his first four NFL games since the AFL–NFL merger. Following the 27-6 win over the 49ers in Week 8, Gurley's jersey and cleats were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In Week 9, Gurley was held to just 89 yards in the Rams' 21-18 overtime loss at Minnesota against the Vikings. In Week 10, he was contained to just 49 rushing yards in a 37-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. In Week 11, Gurley rushed for 66 yards against the Baltimore Ravens and scored a touchdown in the team's 16-13 loss. In Week 12, he ran for just 19 yards in a 31-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The following week, he was held to 41 rushing yards on nine carries in a blowout loss at home against Arizona. In Week 14, Gurley rushed for 140 yards in the Rams' 24-14 win over the Detroit Lions. In Week 15, he rushed for 48 yards, scored a touchdown, and became the third rookie in Rams history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season (Jerome Bettis and Eric Dickerson) in a 31-23 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (in what was the franchise's last home game in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles for the 2016 season). In Week 16, Gurley rushed for 85 yards in a 23-17 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, becoming the second Rams rookie, the first being Dickerson in 1983, to rush for 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Gurley finished the season with 1,106 rushing yards and ten touchdowns on 229 attempts. On December 22, 2015, Gurley was selected to be part of the 2016 Pro Bowl along with fellow Rams players defensive lineman Aaron Donald and punter Johnny Hekker. Gurley was one of the five rookies to be selected to the Pro Bowl, along with Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, Seattle Seahawks wide receiver/kick returner Tyler Lockett, Oakland Raiders wide receiver Amari Cooper, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston. He was ranked 22nd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

2016 season

In the Rams' first season back in Los Angeles, Gurley looked to improve on his successful 2015 season. In the first two weeks of the 2016 season against the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, Gurley was held to a combined 98 rushing yards. However, in Week 3 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Gurley had 28 carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. In Week 4, Gurley caught a 33-yard pass from quarterback Case Keenum in the Rams' 17-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.