Mike Pringle

He even returned 38 kicks for 814 yards and, in his first CFL playoff appearance, rang up 165 yards in two playoff games to lead Baltimore to their first Grey Cup appearance, where they lost the 82nd Grey Cup to the BC Lions 26-23 on Lui Passaglia's last-minute 38-yard field goal.

Michael A. Pringle (born October 1, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

He set or tied almost every significant league record for the position.

He played college football for the Cal State Fullerton Titans, earning third-team All-American honors.

He was twice signed by National Football League (NFL) teams, though he saw very limited playing time.

Along with George Reed and Johnny Bright, Pringle is one of the players most often mentioned as being the greatest running back in CFL history.

At Cal State Fullerton, Pringle shared the NCAA single-game rushing record at one time with 357 yards against New Mexico State on November 4, 1989.

He also led the nation that year in all-purpose yardage with a school-record 2,690 yards.

Pringle played well enough to be selected 139th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1990 NFL draft.

Pringle spent most of the 1990 NFL season on the practice roster (although he dressed for the final three games).

The final cut from Atlanta's 1991 training camp, Pringle, like fellow Cal State Fullerton alumni Damon Allen and Allen Pitts, went on to the Canadian Football League, where he became one of the best players in league history at his position.

Pringle entered the CFL in time for the 1992 CFL season, with the Edmonton Eskimos.

In three games, Pringle received 22 carries for 129 yards, posting a respectable rushing average in limited action.

However, like fellow import running back Robert Hardy, the Eskimos were not high on Pringle and released him.

They opted to stick with their trio of Canadian ball carriers in Michael Soles, Blake Marshall and Brian Walling.

Pringle spent the rest of 1992 with the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football.

In 1993, Pringle resurfaced with the CFL's Sacramento Gold Miners, remaining in the same city but switching leagues.

In Sacramento, Pringle became an everyday player, although not a frequent option in the ground game that was led by former NFL running back Mike Oliphant.

Still he racked up 366 yards and four touchdowns in his only season with the Gold Miners, before being traded in the offseason to the team where he would make his most lasting mark, the then-Baltimore Football Club, later to become the Baltimore Stallions.

Going into his third CFL season, Pringle had run the ball 82 times for less than five hundred yards: less than half a season's work for a starting CFL running back.

Despite his lack of carries, however, Pringle became the starting back in Baltimore two games into the 1994 season replacing Sheldon Caney.

Pringle immediately responded to the opportunity.

The 27-year-old went loose in Baltimore, running for a record 1,972 yards and thirteen touchdowns, narrowly missing becoming the first CFL running back to reach the elusive 2,000 yards rushing milestone.

He did however set a CFL record with 2,414 yards from scrimmage.

Compared to his remarkable 1994 season, 1995 was a slight dropoff for Pringle, but still an excellent season by any standard.

His rushing totals declined to a "mere" 1,791 yards, and while his yards-per-carry fell by .6 from 6.4 to 5.8, his statistics were still the best any back posted in the CFL that year.

To top it off, Pringle was a playoff workhorse, as he ran for 484 playoff yards and four touchdowns in three games.

On the strong, powerful legs of Pringle, the Baltimore Stallions made their second straight appearance in the Grey Cup.

This time, the Stallions would not be denied, taking the famous "Wind Bowl" over the Calgary Stampeders 37-20.

After his two seasons in Baltimore, Pringle began to attract more attention from the National Football League.

The Denver Broncos signed Pringle to a free agent contract for the 1996 NFL season, but he was a late cut from training camp.

With no other NFL teams expressing interest in his abilities, Pringle returned to the CFL, following the relocated Baltimore franchise and joining the newly christened Montreal Alouettes late in the season.

Pringle played only eight games but rushed for 825 yards and five touchdowns.

It was in 1997 that Pringle once again took his place as the CFL's best running back.

In November 2006, Pringle was voted one of the CFL's Top 50 players (#4) of the league's modern era by Canadian sports network TSN.

In April 2008, Pringle was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.

Pringle was born in Los Angeles, California.

He attended John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, California and was a student and a letterman in football.

Pringle began his college career at Washington State University.

Pringle transferred to California State University, Fullerton for his junior year, where he played on the Cal State Fullerton Titans football team.