Ron Dayne

At 46 years old, Ron Dayne has this physical status:

Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is a retired American football player who competed in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons.

Dayne played college football for the University of Wisconsin and received the 1999 Heisman Trophy.

He was a first-round pick of the New York Giants in the 2000 NFL Draft, and he also played for the Denver Broncos and Houston Texans of football. According to Bowl statistics, Dayne is the all-time leader in rushing yards in NCAA Division I FBS history, with 7,125 yards (Official stats exclude Bowl Games played before 2002, including Bowl games played before 2002; without Bowl game stats, he ranks second all-time behind Donnel Pumphrey).

Early years

His parents divorced when Dayne was a child, and he was sent to live with relatives. Dayne was coerced to play a parental role to his younger sister when he was just ten years old due to a shortage of reliable adult relatives. He was heavily recruited by several colleges due to his athleticism and quickness. He has also excelled at track and field. He won the New Jersey Meet of Champions in 1995, establishing a new meet record in the discus throw. He captured state titles in both shot put and discus in 1996, establishing new meet records. He competed in both events and set a new personal record in the discus. He runs in the best distance ever thrown in the discus by a U.S. high school student at 216 feet, 11 inches (66.12 meters).

When he first arrived at college, his football career was supposed to change. Many people at 270 pounds out of high school felt he was too large to be a tailback and believed he would be best suited as a fullback. Dayne was eventually given a tailback position and was asked to play for Wisconsin, but coach Barry Alvarez convinced him not to play for Wisconsin.

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College career

He played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 1996 to 1999. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dayne, nicknamed "Great Dayne" and "The Dayne Train" in college, was the starting running back for all four years at Wisconsin and had 1,220 passes during his career.

Dayne set the NCAA Division I-A rushing record for total yards in a career during his four seasons. He was 1,863 yards as a freshman, 1,421 as a sophomore, 1,325 as a junior, and 1,834 as a senior. In the last game of the 1999 season against Iowa, he tied a record. Dayne finished his career with 6,397 passing yards (but does not include yardage from his four bowl games in which he competed) eclipsing the record set by Ricky Williams of Texas in the previous year. Since being eclipsed by San Diego State's Donnel Pumphrey, the record has since been demolished.

In three bowl games for Wisconsin, Dayne excelled. In the 1996 Copper Bowl against Utah, he rushed for 246 to lead the Badgers to 38–10 victory, earning MVP awards. Dayne only gained 36 yards in the 1998 Outback Bowl loss to Georgia, but the Badgers' 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowl victories saw him throw back to 246 yards and 200 yards, respectively. Dayne received MVP awards in both games, making him the third player in the Rose Bowl to return as MVP and the first and only Big Ten players to do so. Bob Schloredt (Washington/AAWU), Charles White (Pac-10) were the first two, and Vince Young (Texas/Big 12) has since pulled off this feat.

In 1999, Dayne received the Heisman Trophy as well as other accolades throughout college, including Big Ten Player of the Year for 1999 and All-American placement in 1996, 1998, and 1999. Name and number of six characters on the Camp Randall Stadium facade is one of six on the page. During the 2007 game against Michigan, Dayne's #33 was officially retired.

Dayne's 6,397 career yards rank second in the Division I-A (now FBS) career rush list, behind only Donnel Pumphrey of San Diego State. He has 7,125 yards on yardage from bowl games. With Ricky Williams and Marcus Allen, he holds the most 200-yard rushing games. He has 12 others. He is one of only eight players in NCAA history to rush for over a thousand yards in any of his four seasons.

Dayne was inducted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Athletic Hall Of Fame as part of the 2009 class, alongside fellow NFL player Joe Panos and MLB pitcher Thornton Kipper. On December 31, 2011, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame for his contribution to the Rose Bowl game. Dayne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

Professional career

The New York Giants selected Dayne with the 11th pick of the 2000 NFL Draft. He worked alongside Tiki Barber in the backfield in Dayne's first season to create "Thunder and Lightning," a blend of Dayne's strength and Barber's speed. The Giants then travelled to participate in Super Bowl XXXV. Dayne's weight loss continues to decline over the next two years, with head coach Jim Fassel, who Dayne had a turbulent relationship with, becoming increasingly dissatisfied with Dayne's inability to shed weight. According to news, Fassel did not like Dayne's halfback running style and attempted to make him a goal line back. Dayne lost 40 pounds and received a second shot under new head coach Tom Coughlin after Fassel was dismissed. Dayne saw little playing time during the 2004 regular season after missing every game due to injury. Dayne was not a desire to re-sign the Giants, and he later signed a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos for the 2005 season. He was recalled in the 2006 offseason and named the starter, but the pre-season ended and was cut on September 2, 2006, and he was placed on the depth chart. The Texans declared Dayne off waivers the next day.

Dayne, a Houston Texans quarterback, rushed for 429 yards and five touchdowns in December 2006. In 2007, he came in for the injured Ahman Green. After the 2007 season, Dayne did not play in the NFL until now.

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