The Rise And Fall of Todd Gurley

todd gurley was the best running back in football at one point a complete back that could catch as well as he could run and practically lived in the end zone but as quickly as he reached the mountaintop he was cut and eventually dropped out of the nfl here is the rise and fall of todd gurley todd gurley began high school in the small town of tarboro north carolina not only was he a three sport athlete but gurley actually quit football his freshman year to focus on basketball and even made varsity as a freshman his coaches convinced gurley to come back to football mid-season thankfully if not this video could be about nba star todd gurley or track star todd gurley without any coaching gurley was invited to attract me to just run little did he know it was a qualifier for team usa gurley showed up ran hurdles and won the event with ease he got a coach and an invitation to italy to qualify for the next step he finished 15th in italy but he also clocked a 10-7 100 meter in state championship runs back in north carolina we haven't even begun to discuss his high school football career which is a must-see highlight reel as a senior he scored 38 touchdowns and ran for 2600 yards in his last high school game he ran for 242 yards scored four touchdowns and carried tarboro high to a state championship as arguably the greatest running back in north carolina history it was a huge event when the four-star recruit committed and he was going to be a dog it only took one game for gurley to become the starter for the sec powerhouse georgia bulldogs that one game he hit pay dirt twice on just eight runs and rushed for exactly 100 yards if that wasn't enough gurley housed a 100-yard kick in the first quarter of his college career head coach mark richt's staff was smart enough to make him the feature back and it paid dividends he became just the second true freshman in georgia history to hit the thousand yard mark his name next to the mythical herschel walker gurley was second in the sec in rushing yards and was named all-conference his sophomore year everyone knew he was the dog's biggest weapon but they still couldn't stop him however just as another elite season got going todd gurley went down with a nasty nagging sprained ankle against lsu late that would derail uga's season as they lost two of the three games gurley would miss add in a hip injury and gurley played at less than 100 for almost the entire season his junior year he started off hot again rushing for 198 yards and three touchdowns in an opener against clemson he continued that ridiculous pace through the first half of the season with 773 rushing yards in just five games he was well on his way to setting every georgia record but then he got caught up the ncaa investigated todd gurley to find out that he was illegally taking money for signed memorabilia and autographs they suspended him for the next four games the worst part is he would only suit up one more time as a georgia bulldog in a huge game and the return game for gurley the dogs blew out top 10 auburn up big in the fourth they handed it to gurley who went right up the middle before cutting with no one around he collapsed after the cut torn acl out the rest of the season gurley made the decision to skip his senior year and enter the nfl draft while it fizzled out near the end todd gurley is one of georgia's most prolific players ever he left second in rushing yards and touchdowns just behind you guessed it herschel walker despite many people convinced gurley would fall in the draft because of the injury it didn't happen surprising everyone the saint louis rams took todd gurley with the 10th pick of the 2015 draft the setback set up was a major comeback gurley recovered from the injury faster than anyone expected he only missed the first two games when most thought he wouldn't play at all in 2015. after easing into action in week 3 against the steelers in week 4 against the cardinals he put on a show todd gurley the st louis ram looked just like todd gurley the georgia bulldog and just 14 carries he ran for 144 yards in the second half alone being the engine behind the rams win gurley took that momentum and ran for three more straight 100-yard games one of the biggest nfl headlines was gurley has arrived he scored his first nfl touchdown against the browns before finding the endzone in the next five straight games in just 12 games his rookie year he ran for over 1100 yards and scored double-digit touchdowns in his first four games as the ram starter he put up more rushing yards than any running back in nfl history with 566 yards the world was on notice gurley was ranked a top 25 player by piers he was one of five rookies named a pro bowler and he won rookie of the year unfortunately gurley was in for a sophomore slump in 2016. teams stacked the box against him and the rams stunk but it's set up for the best thing that could happen for gurley's career the hiring of sean mcvay in 2017 mcvay used gurley in every possible way as gurley had almost 800 yards receiving to go along with a second thousand-yard rushing campaign with 1 305 yards and 19 total touchdowns the rams won 11 games behind gurley's dominance and he became just the eighth player ever to have 1300 plus rushing and 750 plus receiving yards in the season with a division in hand the rams sat gurley for the final game of the year and he got passed by for the rushing title but everyone knew who the best back in football was it was todd gurley as he took home the offensive player of the year award you know what you do when you have the best offensive player in football you open up the checkbook and that's exactly what the rams did as gurley became the highest paid running back of all time earning 57.5 million dollars over four years he was king of the world but all kingdoms come to an end right this wasn't the case for gurley though to start the 2018 season as he continued his insane production the rams were better than ever gurley scored in the first 11 games and was on pace to reset all of his career highs but the extreme workload he was taking on began to wear on him he struggled in the last two season games before they shut him down until the playoffs in a warrior effort gurley grinded out another 100-yard playoff game to beat the cowboys but the injuries took their toll the nfc championship game was when it became very apparent something was off with todd gurley the rams beat the saints but gurley struggled as he ran just four times for 10 yards and a touchdown in the next two weeks leading up to a super bowl game against the patriots todd gurley was the main story line how healthy was he the ram stuck to the story of inflammation in his knees leaving the world to speculate some said he was not as badly hurt as was being led on and other reports said it was far worse in the biggest moment of his career it was clear gurley wasn't the same guy he struggled to do anything with the ball and the rams offense without their most prolific player was suffocated in a devastating super bowl loss in the offseason it was revealed that gurley had arthritis in his knees a common effect of someone with previously torn acls but a massive detriment to an nfl running back in their prime 2019 arrived and questions about gurley's future circled the rams camp they tried to force feed him the ball as defenses began to evolve to mcveigh's offense the explosion was no longer there the player that averaged nearly five yards a touch was now getting bottled up for three yards of carry the cuts weren't as crisp and a guy that looked like a reincarnated jim brown was a shell of himself he scored 12 times but didn't break 100 yards in a single game he posted just 885 yards in less than a year he went from the most explosive weapon in football to basically a has been the real issue for the rams was gurley's price tag as the highest paid back in the league he made nearly double what the guys at the top of the rushing leaders list were making the rams were cash strapped and straddling the salary cap line he could have possibly stayed and had a bounce back ear but with worsening arthritis it was unlikely and the money didn't make sense so on march 19 2020 the la rams released todd gurley now with minimal risk somebody could take a shot at gurley and hope for a resurgence that would be the atlanta falcons it was clear gurley still had a nose for the end zone as he scored another nine touchdowns as a falcon in 2020. the issue was his productivity at 1 460 touches after an acl injury he wasn't nearly as explosive anymore his low yards per carry in his final season as a ram continued in atlanta averaging just under 3.5 per carry as a falcon as the season ended and his one-year prove it deal ended gurley wasn't re-signed in less than a three-year span gurley showed us just how volatile the life of an nfl running back is he went from the best weapon in football to jobless in the span of 18 months it will always be a story of what could have been as todd gurley is one of the most special talents we've seen and one of the best running backs from this past decade but one bad knee took the canton train right off the tracks it's hard not to look at gurley like the nfl's derrick rose truly sensational for such a short period of time [Music]

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 957,896

Keywords: NFL, running back, RB, todd gurley, todd gurley highlights, nfl news, nonstop sports

Id: yBZOt5fSCvI

Length: 9min 22sec (562 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 05 2021