Rashard Mendenhall life and biography

Rashard Mendenhall is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League.

PRO (20-13/0-0): Exploded onto the scene in 2009 with one of the best single-season rushing performances in Steelers’ history…drafted by the Steelers in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Illinois…became the first running back taken by Pittsburgh in the first round of the NFL Draft since the team selected Tim Worley in 1989 (7th overall)…played in four games as a rookie and made one start…suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 4 versus the Baltimore Ravens in 2008.

2009 (16-12): Played in all 16 games, starting 12…earned AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors in his first career start against the Chargers…ran for more than 1,000 yards for the first time in his career…only one of seven different running backs to rush for more than 1,000 yards in team history…also had 25 receptions…9/10 vs. Tennessee: Played in his fifth career game…rushed four times for six yards (1.5 avg.) with a long of three…9/20 at Chicago: Played in his second consecutive game…rushed three times for 39 yards (13.0 avg.) with a career-long rush of 39…caught one pass for a career-high 13 yards…9/27 at Cincinnati: Played in his third consecutive game…returned one kickoff for eight yards…10/4 vs. San Diego: Played in his fourth consecutive game…rushed 29 times for 165 yards (5.7 avg.) and two touchdowns…caught two passes for 26 yards (13.0 avg.) with a career-long 20-yard gain…10/11 at Detroit: Played in his fifth consecutive game while also starting this year for the second time…rushed 15 times for 77 yards (5.1 avg.) with one touchdown…caught two passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg.) with a long of nine…10/18 vs. Cleveland: Started in his third consecutive game…rushed 17 times for 62 yards (3.6 avg.) with one touchdown…caught two passes for 15 yards (17.5 avg.) with a long of 13…10/25 vs. Minnesota: Started in his fourth consecutive game…rushed 10 times for 69 yards (6.9 avg.) with a long of 17…11/9 at Denver: Started in his fifth consecutive game…rushed 22 times for 155 yards (7.0 avg.) with a long of 36…marked as his second career 100-yard game…11/15 vs. Cincinnati: Started in his sixth consecutive game…rushed 13 times for 36 yards (2.8 avg.) with a long of 10…11/22 at Kansas City: Started in his seventh consecutive game…rushed 21 times for 80 yards (3.8 avg.) with a long of 13…caught four passes for 36 yards (9.0 avg.) with one touchdown...his touchdown reception was the first of his career…11/29 at Baltimore: Made his eight consecutive start at RB…rushed 24 times for 95 yards (4.0 avg.) with a long of 15…caught two passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg.) with a long of 20…12/6 vs. Oakland: Made his ninth consecutive start at RB…rushed 20 times for 103 yards (5.2 avg.) with one touchdown and a career long run for 60 yards…marked his third career 100-yard rushing game…12/10 at Cleveland: Made his 10th consecutive start at RB…rushed 16 times for 53 yards (3.3 avg.) with a long of seven…caught one pass for 17 yards…12/20 vs. Green Bay: Made his 11th consecutive start at RB…rushed 11 times for 38 yards (3.5 avg.) with one touchdown…caught six passes for 73 yards with a long of 25…12/27 vs. Baltimore: Made his 12th consecutive start at RB…rushed 17 times for 36 yards (2.1 avg.) with one touchdown…eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing on the season for the first time in his career…became just the seventh different running back in team history to do so…1/3 at Miami: Played in his 16th game of the season at RB…rushed 20 times for 94 (4.7 avg.) with a long of 36.

2008 (4-1/0-0): Played in four regular-season games, making one start...suffered a season-ending shoulder injury on September 29 against Baltimore... placed on the Reserve/Injured List on October 1...rushed 19 times for 58 yards (3.1 avg.)...caught two passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg.)...returned six kickoffs for 115 yards (19.2 avg.) with a long of 27...9/7 vs. Houston: Made his NFL debut as the backup to Willie Parker and rushed 10 times for 28 yards (2.8 avg.) with a long of nine...also served as the team’s primary kickoff returner and had two returns for 46 yards (23.0 avg.) with a long of 27...9/14 at Cleveland: Played in his second consecutive game as the primary kickoff returner...returned two kicks for 21 yards (10.5 avg.) with a long of 21...9/21 at Philadelphia: Played in his third consecutive game...had his first career reception for 11 yards in the fourth quarter...returned two kickoffs for 48 yards (24.0 avg.)...9/29 vs. Baltimore: Made his first career start at HB...had nine rushes for 30 yards (3.3 avg.) and caught one pass for six yards...left the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury...10/1: Placed on the Reserve/Injured List with a shoulder injury.

COLLEGE: Gained 2,539 yards rushing, ranking seventh in school history…his 1,681 yards on the ground in 2007 broke the old Illini season-record of 1,330 yards by Antoineo Harris in 2002…his 214 yards vs. Indiana in 2007 rank sixth and his 203 yards vs. Minnesota in 2007 rank 11th on the school’s game-record rushing chart…his 22 touchdowns rushing tied Antoineo Harris (1999- 2002) for ninth on the Illini career-record list…his 17 rushing touchdowns in 2007 topped the previous school season-record of 15 by Howard Griffith in 1990…his three scoring runs in 2007 vs. Syracuse placed him fourth on the school game-record chart behind Griffith (8 vs. Southern Illinois in 1990), Red Grange (4 vs. Michigan in 1924) and Antoineo Harris (4 vs. Indiana in 2002)…ran for over 100 yards nine times during his career (team compiled a 7-2 record in those contests), tying him for third in school history…his eight 100-yard rushing games in 2007 established an Illinois season-record…his 1,999 all-purpose yards in 2007 broke the old school season-record of 1,818 yards by Keith Jones in 1988.

2007: All-American third-team selection by The NFL Draft Report, and Rivals.com…unanimous All-Big Ten Conference first-team choice and named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year by the league’s coaches and media…recipient of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football…Doak Walker Award and Maxwell Award semi-finalist…ranked eighth in the nation and second in the Big Ten in rushing (129.31 ypg.) and finished third in the league in all-purpose yardage (153.77 ypg.), helping the team lead the conference and rank fifth in the nation with an average of 256.77 yards per game on the ground…started all 13 games, carrying 262 times, as he set school season-records with 1,681 yards (6.4 avg.) and 17 touchdowns…finished second on the squad with 34 receptions for 318 yards (9.4 avg.) and two touchdowns, as he scored 114 points and recorded two solo tackles…set another Illini season record by amassing 1,999 all-purpose yards…ran for over 100 yards eight times, as the team compiled a 7-1 record in those contests.

2006: Earned CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-District and Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors…finished the season ranking 10th in the league in rushing yards per game and had a league-best 8.2 yards per carry for the season...finished second on the team with 78 attempts for 640 yards and five touchdowns…caught 12 passes for 164 yards (13.7 avg.) and a score…totaled 36 points and gained 804 all-purpose yards…ran for over 100 yards vs. Penn State.

2005: Appeared in 10 games as a true freshman, gaining 218 yards on 48 carries (4.5 avg.)…had 13 receptions for 82 yards (6.3 avg.) and two scores…registered his first career touchdown on a 5-yard toss from QB Tim Brasic, adding 21 yards on six runs vs. Michigan State…rushed nine times for 34 yards and caught four passes for 30 yards, including a 2-yard score vs. Penn State…ran for a season-high 64 yards on 11 rushes and made two catches for 16 yards vs. San Jose State…added 49 yards on nine attempts in the Purdue clash…majored in sport management…older brother, Walter, was a member of the Illini backfield alongside Rashard.

PERSONAL

Attended Niles West (Skokie, Ill.) High School...rated the premier recruit in the state of Illinois by Scout.com, earning a five-star prospect from that recruiting service, which rated him the 24th-best prep player in the country... named to Rival.com’s Top-100 team and rated 17th among national recruits by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution... selected the top recruit in the state of Illinois by the Chicago Sun-Times and named to Super Prep’s Elite 50 list and All-American squad, ranking as the nation’s fourth-best running back by the same publication... participated in the Fifth Annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl...a three-year All-Central Suburban Conference selection for football and two-time pick for track...named to All-State teams as a junior in both football and track, in addition to earning All-Area honors for both sports as a sophomore and during his junior year for football...averaged 9.1 yards per carry as a senior, rushing for 1,453 yards on 160 tries and 14 touchdowns...as a junior, he gained 1,832 yards and 19 touchdowns, averaging 11.6 yards per carry and recorded 1,300 yards and 21 scores as a sophomore...had over 1,000 career yards receiving and 13 touchdown catches...son of Sibyl and Walter Mendenhall...Full name: Rashard Jamal Mendenhall.

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