Melvin Gordon
Melvin Gordon III is an American former professional football running back. He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers, earning unanimous All-American honors and winning the Doak Walker Award as the top college running back in 2014. He was selected by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft with the 15th overall pick.
Gordon briefly held the NCAA Division I FBS single-game rushing yards record with 408 yards, set playing in three quarters against Nebraska in November 2014, until it was broken the following week. He became the second-leading all-time single-season rusher in FBS history with 2,587 yards, falling 41 yards shy of Barry Sanders record of 2,628 yards set in 1988.
Early life
Gordon was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisconsin and attended Mary D. Bradford High School, where he was a two-sport star for the Red Devils in both football and track. In football, he tallied 1,098 yards and 11 touchdowns on 99 carries, and had five receiving touchdowns, and was an honorable mention All-state and All-region by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association as a junior. He was a first-team All-state selection by the Associated Press and the WFCA as a senior, after he rushed for 2,009 yards with 38 touchdowns. He was the Wisconsin Gatorade Football Player of the Year. Gordon played on the same team as cornerback Trae Waynes, who was selected four spots ahead of Gordon in the 2015 NFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings.As an outstanding track & field athlete, Gordon was one of the state's top performers in the long jump. At the 2011 Racine Invitational event, he ran the 55-meter dash in a PR 6.39 seconds on his way to a first-place finish. He earned a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash at the 2011 SEC Outdoor Conference, recording a career-best time of 10.95 seconds. At the 2011 WIAA Track & Field State Championships, he took silver in the long jump event after posting a career-best leap of 7.20 meters.
Regarded as a four-star recruit by the Rivals.com recruiting service, Gordon was ranked the No. 24 running back in the nation. He was ranked the top player in Wisconsin by ESPN.com. He chose Wisconsin over scholarship offers from Iowa, Louisville, and Michigan. Gordon originally committed to the University of Iowa but decommitted and chose the University of Wisconsin–Madison instead.
College career
Gordon attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 2011 through 2014 under head coaches Bret Bielema, Barry Alvarez, and Gary Andersen.2011 season
As a freshman in 2011, Gordon played in three games rushing 20 times for 98 yards with a touchdown. He rushed for his first career collegiate touchdown in the 59–10 victory over South Dakota on September 24. He was given a medical redshirt after suffering a groin injury.2012 season
In 2012, Gordon was the third string running back behind Montee Ball and James White. In the Badgers' third game against UTEP, he had eight carries for 112 rushing yards and a touchdown for his first collegiate game going over the century mark. He set a career-high record of 216 yards on nine carries averaging 24 yards per carry in the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers where the unranked Badgers defeated the #12 Cornhuskers by a score of 70–31. During the 2013 Rose Bowl, he had nine carries for 51 yards against #6 Stanford but ultimately the unranked Badgers lost by a score of 20–14.Over the course of the 2012 season, Gordon rushed 62 times for 621 yards and three touchdowns.
2013 season
James White and Gordon received a majority of the carries and the backfield and both were productive. To start the season, Gordon had 13 carries for 144 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against Massachusetts. In the following game, against Tennessee Tech, on only nine carries, he had 140 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown for a 15.6 yards per carry average. In the following game, the Badgers had their first setback of the season on the road against Arizona State. Gordon had a season high in yardage with 193 yards on 15 carries for two rushing touchdowns. Gordon found the endzone three times to go along with 147 yards on 16 carries in the following game against Purdue. After a setback to Ohio State in the following game, Gordon and Badgers reeled off a six-game winning streak. To start the winning streak, Gordon had 22 carries for 172 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against Northwestern. One week later, against Illinois, he found the endzone three times for the second time in the 2013 season. In the victory, he tallied 142 rushing yards on 17 carries to go along with the touchdowns. On November 14, Gordon was named one of the ten semifinalists for the 2013 Doak Walker Award. Two days later, against Indiana, he had 13 carries for 146 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. In December 2013, Gordon announced after much speculation that he would be returning to Wisconsin for his junior season. In explaining his decision, Gordon stated that,"I love the University of Wisconsin and feel that there is still a lot of room for growth...academically, another year in school will help me get closer to completing my degree, and on the field I hope to help my team get back the Big Ten championship." With their 9–3 record, the Badgers earned a spot in the Capital One Bowl against South Carolina. In the 34–24 loss, Gordon had 25 carries for 143 yards. In the 2013 season, Gordon recorded 206 carries for 1,609 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns.2014 season
Prior to the season, Gordon was widely viewed as a Heisman Trophy contender. He was also on preseason watchlists for the Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award, and Walter Camp Award. 2014 was the first year where Gordon was Wisconsin's featured running back; in 2012, he was behind both Montee Ball and James White, and 2013 he was behind James White with Corey Clement as the third string running back after Gordon.Gordon began the season with 16 carries for 140 yards against #13 LSU on August 30 at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. LSU came back from a 7–24 deficit to win the game by a score of 28–24. Wisconsin's head coach, Gary Andersen, was criticized for him only having three carries in the second half and when questioned Anderson stated he "didn't know why Gordon had limited carries". Gordon stated to the media after the game that he wasn't injured. However, two days later Andersen stated that Gordon strained his hip-flexor on the last play in the second quarter of the game against LSU and "we were trying to be smart with him as the rest of the game went on". In the second game of the season against the Western Illinois Leathernecks, Gordon was held to a season-low 38 rushing yards on 17 rushing attempts.
On September 20 against Bowling Green, Gordon had a career-high five rushing touchdowns and 253 rushing yards. Just two weeks later, Gordon surpassed his 253-yard game rushing against Bowling Green when he reached 259 yards rushing against Northwestern at Ryan Field in a losing effort. After week six Gordon was named to the CBSSports.com Midseason College Football All-America Team. Gordon was one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.
On November 15, Gordon broke LaDainian Tomlinson’s 15 year-old FBS single game rushing record, by two yards with 408 yards versus the #16 Nebraska Cornhuskers. Gordon accomplished this, as well as scoring four rushing touchdowns, on only 25 carries in three quarters of play. The record would be broken the following week by Samaje Perine. In addition, he broke the 339-yard school record, held by Ron Dayne since 1996, and the 377-yard Big Ten Conference record, held by Indiana running back Anthony Thompson since 1989. Gordon garnered multiple Player of the Week awards for his performance against the Huskers. The Walter Camp Football Foundation, Athlon Sports, and CBSSports.com named him National Offensive Player of the Week, and the Big Ten named him the conference Offensive Player of the Week.
On November 19, Gordon was named one of ten semifinalists for the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Foundation listed him as one of the fifteen "Players to Watch" for the Walter Camp Award. The Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee will release a list of three finalists on November 25 and the Walter Camp Foundation will release a list of five finalists on December 3.
On November 22, against Iowa at Kinnick Stadium, Gordon rushed for 200 yards and had four receptions for 64 yards, leading the team in both categories. Gordon went over 2,000 yards rushing for the season, only the 17th player in FBS history to do so. He reached the 2,000 yard mark faster than any of his predecessors, on just 241 carries. The previous holder for fastest 2,000 yards was Penn State running back Larry Johnson who accomplished the feat on 251 carries in 2002. However, Gordon's single game rushing record was broken by Oklahoma running back Samaje Perine, who gained 427 yards in a game against Kansas. When Gordon learned that his record had been broken after only one week, he commented: "That's disappointing, to have that. But congrats to that guy; that's really not easy to do." Gordon was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season as a result of his performance at Kinnick Stadium.
On November 25, Gordon was named as a finalist for the Maxwell Award with quarterbacks Marcus Mariota and Dak Prescott. Gordon and fellow Big Ten running backs Ameer Abdullah and Tevin Coleman were named the three finalists for the Doak Walker Award. Gordon would later win the award. On December 1, Gordon was named the Big Ten's Ameche–Dayne Running Back of the Year as well as being a consensus 1st Team All-Big Ten Running Back. The following day, Gordon was named the Big Ten's Graham–George Offensive Player of the Year.
Gordon was one of three Heisman Trophy finalists joining Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota and Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper. Gordon became Wisconsin's fourth finalist for the Heisman Trophy, all of whom played running back for the Badgers. Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne won the award, while Montee Ball finished fourth in the final balloting. Gordon finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Mariota.
Gordon waived his final year of college eligibility and entered the 2015 NFL Draft.
In Gordon's final college game, the 2015 Outback Bowl, he rushed for 251 yards against the #19 Auburn Tigers in a 34–31 overtime victory. He set the Outback Bowl rushing record with his performance and was named the game MVP. For the season, he gained 2,587 yards, second in FBS history only to the 2,628-yard record held by Barry Sanders since 1988, and his 29 rushing touchdowns led the NCAA.