Jonathan Stewart

Infobox NFLactive
name=Jonathan Stewart


caption=
currentteam=Carolina Panthers
currentnumber=28
currentposition=Running back
|birthdate=birth date and age|1987|3|11
birthplace=Fort Lewis, Washington
heightft=5
heightin=10
weight=235
debutyear=2008
debutteam=Carolina Panthers
college=Oregon
draftyear=2008
draftround=1
draftpick=13
pastteams=
* Carolina Panthers (2008-present)
status=Active
highlights=
* Pac-10 All Freshman (2005)
* Second-team All-Pac-10 (2006)
* First-team All-Pac-10 (2007)
statweek=
statseason=
statlabel1=
statvalue1=
statlabel2=
statvalue2=
statlabel3=
statvalue3=
nfl=STE770966

Jonathan Creon Stewart (born March 21, 1987 in city-state|Fort Lewis|Washington) is an American football running back for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Carolina Panthers 13th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. He played college football at Oregon.

College career

Freshman season

Coming out of Timberline High School (Lacey,WA), Stewart came to Oregon as one of the highest profile recruits in the program's history. He was known for his rare combination of speed and size, recording a SPARQ rating of 97.54 as a senior in high school. [ [http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=803374 NFTC to NFL Draft] ] Stewart's true freshman season was highlighted by a pair of kickoff return touchdowns which made him the program's first player to ever return more than one kickoff for a score. Stewart ended up leading the nation in kickoff return average (33.7 yards-per-return).

Stewart finished his freshman campaign with nine total touchdowns (six rushing, one receiving, and two kickoff returns) despite touching the football only 72 times. His 54 points made him the team's third leading scorer. An ankle injury suffered in a game against Montana would force him to miss action in two games and render him less than 100% in others.

ophomore season

Stewart finished his sophomore season as the team's leading rusher. He finished 19 yards shy of 1,000 yards rushing despite missing some time due to lingering ankle injuries. He recorded five 100 yard games in the season and the Ducks were 5-0 in those games. Stewart also caught 20 passes for 144 yards including a touchdown and he again finished near the top nationally in kickoff returning (6th in the country). In Oregon's controversial win against the University of Oklahoma, Stewart impressed, rushing for 144 yards and a touchdown. In the final regular season game against rival Oregon State University, Stewart rushed for 94 yards and three touchdowns. He finished the season with 10 rushing touchdowns and one receiving score.

Junior season

Stewart and the Ducks opened the 2007 campaign 4-0, with wins over Houston, Michigan (in Ann Arbor), Fresno State and Stanford. Against Michigan, Stewart ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries. He followed up that performance with 165 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 17 carries. Stewart's second touchdown, an 88-yard scamper, was the longest run ever in the 41-year history of Autzen Stadium. The following week against Stanford, Stewart picked up a career best 310 all-purpose yards, including 160 yards rushing and a ten yard touchdown run. In Oregon's showdown against Cal, Stewart ran for 120 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, in a 31-24 loss to the Golden Bears. Stewart chipped in 66 rushing yards in Oregon's 53-7 drubbing of Washington State, then had a record setting day against rival Washington. Stewart had a career high 32 carries for 251 yards and two touchdowns, the latter being the second highest single game total in Oregon's history. Stewart continued his impressive play with a 103 yard, 25 carry, two touchdown performance against USC in Oregon's 24-17 home win. Against then #4 ranked Arizona State, Stewart ran for 99 yards on 21 carries (including a 33-yard touchdown scamper), caught two passes for 26 yards and another score, and returned five kicks for 122 yards. Stewart concluded his record setting season with a career high 39 carries against rival Oregon State, accumulating 163 yards along the way. In Oregon's 56-21 bowl win over South Florida, Stewart ran for a career high 253 yards, setting a Sun Bowl record for rushing yards and earning him the C.M. Hendricks Most Valuable Player award.

At the end of the 2007 regular season, Stewart was selected to the All-Pacific-10 Conference first team by league coaches. [http://www.pac-10.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120307aal.html Pac-10 Football Awards and All-Conference Team Announced] , Pacific 10 Conference, December 3, 2007.] He also garnered All-America notice.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On January 11, 2008, Stewart announced his decision to forego his senior season at Oregon and to enter the Draft. [ [http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;_ylt=Aox2XlcZTkOUOspmBQCrZmocvrYF?slug=ap-oregon-stewart&prov=ap&type=lgns Oregon's Jonathan Stewart headed to the NFL - NCAA Football - Yahoo! Sports ] ]

On March 12, 2008 Stewart underwent surgery on his big toe and is expected to be out four to six months.. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft08/news/story?id=3294633= ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports ] ]

Stewart was ranked among the top three running backs entering the draft among Darren McFadden and Rashard Mendenhall.

Carolina Panthers

Stewart was drafted by the Carolina Panthers 13th overall in the 2008 NFL Draft. On July 26, he signed a $14 million contract with a maximum value of $20 million. The deal included $10.795 million in guarantees.

In his first game against the San Diego Chargers, Stewart ran the ball 10 times for 53 yards. In his second game against the Chicago Bears, Stewart helped the Panthers recover from a first half deficit, scoring two second half touchdowns from four and one yard respectively. Stewart finished with 14 carries for 77 yards and the first two touchdowns of his young NFL career.

References

External links

* [http://www.panthers.com/Team/PlayerBio.aspx?id=31772 Carolina Panthers bio]
* [http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=3378&SPID=233&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=177405&Q_SEASON=2007 Oregon Ducks bio]