Ezekiel Elliott

Ezekiel Elijah Elliott (born July 22, 1995), nicknamed "Zeke", is an American football running back for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL).

As a junior in 2012, he was named the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offensive player of the year after rushing for 1,802 yards and 34 touchdowns and receiving 23 passes for 401 yards and six scores.

In his senior year, he had 3,061 all-purpose yards and 50 total touchdowns, including 2,155 rushing yards and 40 rushing touchdowns.

He led the football team to three straight championship games, but lost all three.

Also a standout track and field athlete, Elliott was a state qualifier in sprinting and hurdling events.

He capped his high school career by winning four state championships at the Missouri Class 3 state championships in 2 1⁄2 hours (100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 110-meter high hurdles and 300-meter hurdles).

He recorded career-best times of 10.95 seconds in the 100-meter dash, 22.05 seconds in the 200-meter dash, 13.77 seconds in the 110m hurdles and 37.52 seconds in the 300m hurdles.

He was named the Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year in the state of Missouri.

Considered a four-star recruit by Scout.com, Elliott was listed as the No. 9 running back in the nation in 2013.

He played in the 2013 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Despite overwhelming support and pressure for Elliott to sign with his parents' alma mater, the University of Missouri, he decided to sign with Ohio State University.

As a true freshman at Ohio State University in 2013, Elliott rushed for 262 yards on 30 carries with two touchdowns as a backup to starter Carlos Hyde, mostly playing as a gunner on special teams.

In 2014, with the departure of Hyde to the NFL, Elliott took over as the starter for the Buckeyes.

During the season, Elliott was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Conference team.

Elliott rushed over 100 yards six times during the scheduled season.

In the 2014 Big Ten Championship Game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Elliott ran for 220 yards on 20 carries for two touchdowns.

This win qualified Ohio State for the first-ever College Football Playoff.

He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning second-team All-American honors in 2015.

In the 2015 Sugar Bowl against #1 Alabama, Elliott ran for 230 yards on 20 carries in a hard-fought 42–35 win where he was named the Offensive Player of the Game, including an 85 yard touchdown run to seal the win.

He then capped the Buckeyes' championship season by rushing for 246 yards on 36 carries and scoring four touchdowns against the Oregon Ducks.

He was named the Offensive MVP of that game as well; it was the third most rushing yards ever by an Ohio State player.

In 2015, Elliott began the season by rushing for over 100 yards in 10 straight wins, including 274 against Indiana on October 3 (the second most all-time by an Ohio State player).

However, the team suffered a 14–17 loss to Michigan State on November 21, 2015, and Elliott announced that he would enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

The following week, Elliott ran for 214 yards on 30 carries in a 42–13 Ohio State victory over rival Michigan in Ann Arbor, his fifth 200+ yard game.

He ended his collegiate career with 149 yards and four touchdowns in a Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame.

Elliott finished his career at Ohio State on several leaderboards.

He was second in career rushing yards with 3,961 and yards per game with 101.6 (both behind only Archie Griffin), had the second and third most rushing yards in a season, and five of the top 20 rushing yards in a game.

His 43 rushing touchdowns was fourth most all time, and his 23 in 2015 was third most in a season.

His twelve 100-yard rushing games in the 2015 season tied Eddie George for a school record, and the 22 he amassed over his career was again second only to Griffin (as was his streak of 15 consecutive 100-yard games from 2014 to 2015).

He and George are the only Ohio State players with five 200-yard rushing games.

Elliott was selected by the Dallas Cowboys fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft.

In seven seasons with the Cowboys, he was a three-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro selection, and led the league in rushing yards in 2016 and 2018.

Elliott was born in Alton, Illinois, to a mother and father who were both athletes in college.

His mother, the former Dawn Huff, was a high school state champion in three sports before attending the University of Missouri and running track there.

His father, Stacy, was a linebacker for the Missouri football team and CEO of Fifth Down Enterprises.

Elliott's maternal grandfather played basketball for Drake University.

His uncle is Finnish professional basketball player Shawn Huff.

Despite his athletic pedigree, Elliott attended more academically driven John Burroughs School in Ladue, Missouri, where he was a three-sport star in football, basketball, and track and field.

He also played baseball.

He played as a running back for the John Burroughs Bombers football team.