- Chris Ivory
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Chris Ivory No. 29 New Orleans Saints Running back Personal information Date of birth: March 22, 1988 Place of birth: Longview, Texas Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Weight: 222 lb (101 kg) Career information College: Tiffin Undrafted in 2010 Debuted in 2010 for the New Orleans Saints Career history - New Orleans Saints (2010–present)
Roster status: Active Career highlights and awards - N/A
Career NFL statistics as of Week 17, 2010 Rushing yards 716 Average 5.2 Rushing TDs 5 Stats at NFL.com Christopher Ivory (born March 22, 1988) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was signed as a free agent by the Saints after the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington State and at Tiffin.
Contents
Early years
Ivory earned letters in both football and track and field in high school at Longview High School in Longview, Texas, playing on a team that also included future NFL players Trent Williams, Malcolm Kelly, and Robert Henson.[1] He was listed as a two-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.[2][3]
College career
Ivory played three years for Washington State. Limited by injuries, in 22 games he had 91 rushes for 534 yards and 4 touchdowns, as well as 23 kickoff returns averaging 22.8 yards. When the coaches who had recruited him were replaced by a new coaching staff, Ivory found himself far down on the Cougars' depth chart.[1] In August 2009, Ivory was dismissed from the Washington State team for violating team rules.[4]
Ivory then transferred to Tiffin, a Division II school in Tiffin, Ohio, whose team was coached by Dave Walkosky, a former Washington State assistant coach. In Ivory's final year of college football, he had 39 rushes for 223 yards in five games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Walkosky attempted to obtain a medical redshirt exemption to allow Ivory to play another year, but this was unsuccessful. Despite his brief stint at Tiffin, Ivory's performance and speed attracted attention from NFL scouts, and he was thought to have a chance of becoming the first Tiffin player to be drafted by the NFL[5] The Saints became interested in Ivory, despite his injuries, after one of their scouts was impressed by Walkosky's enthusiastic recommendations.[1]
Professional career
New Orleans Saints
Ivory was not drafted, but he reached a deal with the Saints immediately after the draft,[6] and signed as a free agent on May 3, 2010. He had an impressive performance in training camp and preseason games, highlighted by a strong performance against the San Diego Chargers that included a 76-yard touchdown on a swing pass.[7][8][9]
Early season injuries to Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas left Ivory as the Saints' starting running back. He had a breakout game in Week 6 against Tampa Bay: his 158 yards on 15 carries were the most by any Saints running back since Deuce McAllister rushed for 165 yards in a 2003 game, and the most by a Saints rookie since a 179 yard effort by Ricky Williams in 1999.[10] The performance earned him awards as both Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week and FedEx Ground Player of the Week.[11] Another strong performance in Week 11, with 23 rushes for 99 yards in a 34-19 win over against Seattle, led Seahawks coach Pete Carroll to call Ivory "a freaking stud out there."[12] Ivory ended the regular season with 137 rushes for 716 yards (leading the team) and 5 touchdowns, but he also suffered repeated injuries during the year; after a foot injury in the Saints' last regular season game, he was placed on the injured reserve list and was unable to play in the post-season.[13]
Personal
Ivory is currently[when?] facing a class-B felony charge in the state of Washington. The charge stems from a July 2009 incident at a residential party while attending Washington State.[14] Ivory has denied involvement in the incident, and others[who?] have suggested it may be a case of mistaken identity; the case has not been set for trial.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d Les Carpenter, "RB Ivory goes from nowhere to New Orleans", Yahoo! Sports, December 16, 2010.
- ^ "Chris Ivory Recruiting Profile". Rivals.com. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Chris-Ivory-36431. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ "Chris Ivory Recruiting Profile". Scout.com. http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=1809724. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ "RB Chris Ivory dismissed by Washington State". Seattle Times. August 11, 2009. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/cougars/2009636366_coug11.html.
- ^ Zach Baker, "TU’s Ivory becoming valuable NFL resource: Tiffin running back could be first player in program drafted", Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune, March 20, 2010.
- ^ Zach Baker, "TU’s Ivory signed by Saints", Tiffin Advertiser-Tribune, April 25, 2010.
- ^ "Former Washington State player Chris Ivory has big night for New Orleans Saints in exhibition-game victory", Seattle Times, August 27, 2010.
- ^ "Saints find another gem in Ivory, who leads triumph over Chargers", AP at NFL.com, August 27, 2010.
- ^ Nakia Hogan, "New Orleans Saints RB Chris Ivory taking nothing for granted", Times-Picayune, August 28, 2010.
- ^ Jeff Duncan, "Chris Ivory's breakout game leads New Orleans Saints to win", Times-Picayune, October 17, 2010.
- ^ Sheldon Mickles, "RB Ivory wins weekly FedEx, Pepsi honors", The Advocate, October 22, 2010.
- ^ Danny O'Neil, "Penalty on Seahawks' Raheem Brock is boon for Saints; Notebook", Seattle Times, November 21, 2010.
- ^ "Chris Ivory has been placed on injured reserve by the New Orleans Saints", Times-Picayune, January 4, 2011.
- ^ "Chris Ivory facing felony charge", Times-Picayune, October 13, 2010.
External links
Categories:- 1988 births
- Living people
- Players of American football from Texas
- Washington State Cougars football players
- Tiffin Dragons football players
- Undrafted National Football League players
- New Orleans Saints players
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