Ron Dayne

Ronald Dayne (born March 14, 1978) is an American former football running back who played for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL).

In 1995, he won the New Jersey Meet of Champions, setting a new meet record in the discus throw.

In 1996, he won state titles in both the shot put and discus, breaking both meet records.

He won the Meet of Champions in both events and breaking his own meet record in the discus.

He has the fifth-best distance ever thrown in the discus by a U.S. high school athlete at 216 feet, 11 inches (66.12m).

His football role was expected to change when he reached college.

At 270 pounds out of high school, many felt that he was too big to be a tailback and believed he would be best suited as a fullback.

Eventually, coach Barry Alvarez promised Dayne a tailback position and persuaded him to come to play for Wisconsin.

Dayne attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 1996 to 1999.

Known as the "Great Dayne" and "The Dayne Train" throughout college, Dayne was the starting running back all four years at Wisconsin and had 1,220 carries during his career.

Over his four seasons, Dayne set the NCAA Division I-A rushing record for total yards in a career.

He gained 1,863 yards as a freshman, 1,421 as a sophomore, 1,325 as a junior, and 1,834 as a senior.

He rushed for 246 to lead the Badgers to a 38–10 victory in the 1996 Copper Bowl against Utah, garnering MVP honors.

Dayne only gained 36 yards in the 1998 Outback Bowl loss against Georgia the next season, but bounced back the next two seasons with 246 yards and 200 yards, respectively, in the Badgers' 1999 and 2000 Rose Bowl wins.

Dayne won MVP honors in both games, becoming only the third player in the history of the Rose Bowl to repeat as MVP — and the first and still only Big Ten player to do so.

Bob Schloredt (Washington/AAWU), Charles White (USC/Pac-10) were the first two, and Vince Young (Texas/Big 12) has subsequently accomplished this feat.

He played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers, where he won the 1999 Heisman Trophy.

He broke the record in the final game of the 1999 season against Iowa.

Dayne ended his career with 6,397 rushing yards (which does not include yardage from the four bowl games he played in), eclipsing the record set the previous year by Ricky Williams of Texas.

The record has since been eclipsed by San Diego State back Donnel Pumphrey.

Dayne excelled in three bowl games for Wisconsin.

Dayne won the Heisman Trophy in 1999 as well as other awards throughout college, including Big Ten Player of the Year for 1999 and All-American placement in 1996, 1998 and 1999.

His name and number is one of six displayed on the Camp Randall Stadium façade.

He was a first round pick of the New York Giants in the 2000 NFL Draft, and also played for the Denver Broncos and the Houston Texans.

Dayne is one of only two players in college football history to rush for 2,000-or-more yards in a single season twice in his career, the other being Troy Davis of Iowa State.

Dayne was selected in the first round with the 11th overall pick of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

In Dayne's first season he teamed up with Tiki Barber in the backfield to create the tandem known as "Thunder and Lightning," a combination of Dayne's power and Barber's speed.

The Giants went on to play in Super Bowl XXXV.

Over the next few years, Dayne's carries slowly diminished, with head coach Jim Fassel, with whom Dayne already had a contentious relationship, growing increasingly disappointed with Dayne's supposed lack of commitment to lose weight.

Fassel reportedly also did not like Dayne's halfback running style, and tried to make him a goal line back.

Dayne is the all-time rushing yards leader in NCAA Division I FBS history, with 7,125 yards with the bowl game statistics included, nonetheless the statistics accumulated in bowl games prior to 2002 are not accounted for by the NCAA.

Thus, Dayne is officially recognized as the second-leading rusher behind Donnel Pumphrey.

When Dayne was a child, his parents divorced, and he was sent to live with relatives.

Due to a lack of reliable adult relatives, Dayne was forced to take on a parental role to his younger sister when he was just ten years old.

His athleticism and speed made him a star running back at Overbrook High School in his hometown of Pine Hill, New Jersey, and he was heavily recruited by many colleges.

He also excelled at track and field.

Dayne's #33 was officially retired during the November 10, 2007, game against Michigan.

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.

For his contribution to the Rose Bowl game, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 31, 2011.

In 2013, Dayne was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.