C. J. Spiller

C. J. Spiller

No. 28     Buffalo Bills
Running Back
Personal information
Date of birth: August 5, 1987 (1987-08-05) (age 24)
Place of birth: Lake Butler, Florida
Height: 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	Weight: 197 lb (89 kg)
Career information
College: Clemson
NFL Draft: 2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9
Debuted in 2010 for the Buffalo Bills
Career history
Buffalo Bills (2010–present)
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
College Awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 5, 2011
Rushing yards	390
Average	4.4
Rushing TDs	1
Kick Return Yards	1030
Kick Return TDs	1
Stats at NFL.com

Clifford "C.J." Spiller Jr. (born August 5, 1987 in Lake Butler, Florida) is an American Football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was an All-American at Clemson University and was drafted 9th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. On October 16, 2010 his number 28 jersey was retired at Clemson University.

High school career

Spiller attended Union County High School in Lake Butler, where he excell at track, as well as football, posting the fourth fast time in the nation over 100 meters in his senior year with a time of 10.42.^[1] At Union County High School, Spiller played along fellow Clemson teammate, Kevin Alexander.^[2] During his senior year at Union County, he rushed for 1,840 yards on 176 carries for 30 touchdowns. He also had fifteen receptions for 249 yards.

In his entire high school career, Spiller rushed for 5,511 yards on 541 carries.

Honors

• Selected to play in 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl^[3]
• #1 player in Florida, #1 all-purpose running back, and #8 overall player by Rivals.com^[4]
• First-team PARADE All-American^[5]
• Florida 2A state 100 and 200–meter champion^[6]

College

Freshman

As a true freshman, Spiller immediately made himself known to the Clemson fans. In the season, he rushed for 938 yards and ten touchdowns on 129 rushes,^[7] despite being the second-team running back behind James Davis. He scored his first collegiate touchdown in a 34–33 overtime loss to Boston College on an 82–yard touchdown reception from quarterback Will Proctor.^[8] After struggling versus Florida State the following week, Spiller turned it around against North Carolina by rushing for fifty-eight yards and two touchdowns in a 52–7 rout of the Tarheels.^[9] In the following weeks, Spiller had two triple-digit rushing games as the Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech and Wake Forest. Against Louisiana Tech, he rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns on eleven attempts, in a 51–0 rout of the Bulldogs, in which the entire Clemson team rushed for 393 yards.^[10] Clemson finished the season with a 8–5 overall record, losing four of their final five games, including a 31-28 loss to archrival South Carolina, and ended the season in a 28–20 Music City Bowl loss to the Kentucky Wildcats. Spiller rushed for only twenty-four yards on five attempts in the loss.^[11]

Sophomore

In his second season for the Tigers, Spiller had a less productive rushing season with only 768 yards and three touchdowns. He did, however, gain more receiving yards, with 271 yards and two additional touchdowns.^[7] In the opening three games of the season, Spiller rushed for only eighty-five yards, including a career-worst –1 yards in a 38–10 victory over Furman.^[12] In a 13–3 loss, he was again stopped by the Georgia Tech defense, rushing for only two yards.^[13] His best statistical game came against rivals South Carolina, which Clemson won 23–21. Spiller ran for a team-high 122 yards on twenty-three attempts in the victory.^[14] In the team's bowl game, he rushed for 112 yards on eight attempts, including one touchdown, in a 23–20 loss to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.^[15]

Junior

With Spiller and fellow running back James Davis, the Clemson Tigers were favored to win the opening game of their 2008 season against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff. However, a stingy Alabama defense held Spiller to just seven yards on two attempts.^[16] He did score though, on a kickoff return for a touchdown. In his second game, however, he rushed for seventy-five yards on six carries, which included three touchdowns in a 45–17 victory over The Citadel.^[17] On January 15, 2009, he announced he would remain for his senior year at Clemson instead of entering the 2009 NFL Draft.

Senior

In the Tiger's 40-24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7, 2009, Spiller and Jacoby Ford became the leading all-purpose duo in NCAA history (a record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State).

On November 28, 2009. C.J. set the FBS record for kickoff return touchdowns with seven during his career. He also earned his spot in the record books in another way on that kickoff return, by being only one of five players to ever gain 7000 all-purpose yards.On November 23, 2009, Spiller was named as one of the three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award. Spiller, along with Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford, was selected by a vote of the 130-member Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee.

On December 2, 2009, Spiller was voted the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. The all-purpose threat was named as the league's top player following a vote of 40 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Spiller received 29 votes to outdistance Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who had eight. Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams, the league's rookie of the year, had two votes and Yellow Jackets defensive end Derrick Morgan had one. Spiller was the nation's only player this season to account for touchdowns five different ways—rushing, passing, receiving, and on kick and punt returns—and had passing, rushing and receiving TDs in one game, a victory against North Carolina State. He returned four kickoffs and a punt for scores this year and has eight total returns for TDs during his career. He scored at least once in every game this season while leading Clemson to the Atlantic Division title and a spot in the league title game against Georgia Tech. Spiller led the ACC with an average of nearly 184 all-purpose yards and was the league's fourth-leading rusher, averaging 76 yards. Spiller is the seventh Tiger to be named player of the year and the first since Michael Dean Perry in 1987. But, he got less than 20 rushing yards in the 2009 34-17 South Carolina loss, after returning the opening kickoff for an NCAA record-setting 7th career kickoff return for touchdown.^[18]

Even though Spiller had a stellar career in the ACC and at Clemson, he was not invited to the 2009 Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City. He ended up placing 6th in the voting behind Tim Tebow.

Spiller graduated from Clemson in December 2009, becoming the first person in his family to receive a four-year college degree.^[19] Also his #28 is now retired as of December 27, 2009 on his game versus Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Spiller was the only player in the FBS to score a touchdown in every game in the 2009 season.

College awards and highlights

• 2006 High School All American (Parade)
• 2006 High School All American (USA Today)
• 2006 All ACC Football (RB)
• 2007 All American – Outdoor Track & Field (4x100m)
• 2007 All ACC Outdoor Track Selection (100m)
• 2008 All ACC Indoor Track Selection (60m)
• 2008 All American – Indoor Track & Field (60m)
• 2009 All ACC Football (RB & ST)
• 2009 All American – Outdoor Track & Field (4x100m)
• 2009 All ACC Outdoor Track Selection (100m)
• 2009 All ACC Football (RB & KR)
• 2009 All-American – Football (unanimous)
• 2009 ACC Championship Game MVP
• 2009 ACC Offensive Player of the Year
• 2009 ACC Player of the Year^[20]
• Had his number (28) retired at Clemson on October 16, 2010.^[21]

Statistics

Season	Rushing						Receiving						Special Teams
	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD		Rec	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD		PR	KR	TD
2006	129	938	7.3	80	10		19	210	11.1	82	2		11–33	13–324	0
2007	145	768	5.3	83	3		34	271	8.0	68	2		16–137	19–547	2
2008	116	629	5.4	57	7		34	436	12.8	83	3		18–189	19–516	1
2009	201	1212	5.6	66	12		36	503	14.0	63	4		8–210	21–708	5
Total	591	3,480	5.9	83	32		120	1,362	11.4	83	11		53–569	72–2005	8
Reference:[22]

Professional career

2010 NFL Draft

Despite being projected as a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, Spiller decided to return for his senior season in January 2009.^[19] He was projected as a first-round draft choice in the 2010 NFL Draft and was listed as the No. 1 running back of the 2010 class by ESPN. Spiller was selected 9th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He was the highest drafted Clemson player since Banks McFadden 1940 NFL Draft and Gaines Adams 2007 NFL Draft both went fourth overall.

Buffalo Bills

On September 8, Spiller was given the nod for the starting running back position on the Bills roster, over veterans Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson for the 2010 season. On August 6, 2010 Spiller signed a five year $25 million deal ($20.8M guaranteed).

On August 19, 2010 Spiller ran 31 yards for his first NFL touchdown in week two of the preseason at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada against the Indianapolis Colts.

Spiller finished the 2010 preseason with 26 carries for 122 yards (4.69 average per carry) and three touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 35 yards. Spiller was named the #1 running back on Buffalo's final depth chart, ahead of the recently-injured Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson.

Spiller has been named Special Teams player of the week for September 26, 2010 for a 95 yard touchdown return against the New England Patriots. Spiller also had a touchdown off a pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick. However, his rookie season was marked with disappointment as he accumulated fewer yards than running backs taken after him in the draft including Ryan Mathews, Jahvid Best, and Toby Gerhart.

In 2011 it was announced that Spiller would trade with Leodis McKelvin for number 28, the same number he wore at Clemson.

References

1. ^ http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/lists/2006/prep_out_m.html
2. ^ "Kevin Alexander". Clemson Tigers. http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/alexander_kevin01.html. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
3. ^ "2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl Roster". Rivals.com. http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=880&CID=754976. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
4. ^ "Rivals.com prospect rankings". Rivals.com. 2006-04-22. http://rivals100.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?SID=880&Year=2006&ra_key=1162. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
5. ^ O'Shea, Michael. "Meet Parade's All-America high school football team". PARADE. http://all-americans.parade.com/2006_football/story.html. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
6. ^ "Player Bio: C.J. Spiller". Clemson Tigers. http://clemsontigers.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/spiller_c.j.02.html. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
7. ^ ^{a b} "C.J. Spiller stats". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/player/profile?playerId=192151. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
8. ^ "BC blocks extra point, knocks off Clemson in 2nd OT". ESPN. 2006-09-06. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=262520103. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
9. ^ "Clemson tallies 7 rush TDs, over 300 rush yards in rout". ESPN. 2006-09-23. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=262660228. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
10. ^ "With three 100-yard rushers, Clemson outclasses La. Tech". ESPN. 2006-09-30. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=262730228. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
11. ^ "Woodson fuels Kentucky to first bowl in 22 years". ESPN. 2006-12-29. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=263630096. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
12. ^ "Harper continues hot start as Clemson slams Furman". ESPN. 2007-09-15. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272580228. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
13. ^ "No. 13 Tigers miss four field goals, have punt blocked in loss". ESPN. 2007-09-29. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=272720059. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
14. ^ "No. 22 Clemson hands South Carolina 5th straight loss". ESPN. 2007-11-24. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=273282579. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
15. ^ "Auburn uses new spread offense, defeats Clemson for bowl win". ESPN. 2007-12-31. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=273650002. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
16. ^ "No. 24 Alabama limits No. 9 Clemson's ground game in upset victory". ESPN. 2008-08-30. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282430228. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
17. ^ "Clemson rebounds with easy victory over Citadel". ESPN. 2008-09-06. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=282500228. Retrieved 2008-09-24. 
18. ^ "C.J. Spiller Named 2009 ACC Player of the Year". Atlantic Coast Conference. 2009-12-02. http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120209aab.html. Retrieved 2009-12-02. 
19. ^ ^{a b} Strelow, Paul (December 17, 2009), "Running back Spiller graduates from Clemson", The Columbia State, http://www.goupstate.com/article/20091217/NEWS/912189999/1089/sports04?Title=Clemson-running-back-Spiller-takes-his-walk 
20. ^ "C.J. Spiller Named 2009 ACC Player of the Year". theacc.com. December 2, 2009. http://www.theacc.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/120209aab.html. Retrieved 7 September 2011. 
21. ^ "Clemson retires C.J. Spiller's No. 28". ESPN.com. October 16, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5691338. Retrieved 7 September 2011. 
22. ^ "C.J. Spiller Stats". ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13203/type/college/cj-spiller. Retrieved 7 September 2011. 

External links

• Clemson Tigers profile