Jamaal Charles

Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles (born December 27, 1986) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Charles's efforts helped the Longhorns earn a third place showing for the men's track and field team, the highest since a second-place finish at the 1997 NCAA finals.

Charles completed his collegiate track career as a four-time All-American (60m indoor, 100m outdoor, 200m outdoor, 4 × 100 m relay outdoor).

In the summer between his sophomore and junior years, Charles won the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics.

He went on to win the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles Texas 5A state championships with times of 13.69 and 36.03 seconds, respectively, his senior year.

In college he ran track during his freshman year, competing in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Charles was also named to the 2005 Parade All-America Football Team and was the District 22-5A Player of the Year both his junior and senior year.

Charles participated in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

Charles is a two-time recipient of the Willie Ray Smith Award, which is given to the southeast Texas offensive MVP.

Charles was a standout track athlete at Port Arthur (TX) Memorial.

Charles attended and played college football for the University of Texas from 2005 to 2007 under head coach Mack Brown.

In his true freshman season with the Longhorns, Charles was an instant contributor in a crowded backfield that included Vince Young as a dual-threat quarterback.

In his collegiate debut against Louisiana-Lafayette, he had 14 carries for 135 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 60–3 victory.

Two weeks later, against Rice, he had 16 carries for 189 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the 51–10 victory.

On October 8, in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma, he had nine carries 116 rushing yards and a touchdown in the 45–12 victory.

Texas ended up going 11–0 in the regular season to earn a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado.

Against the Buffaloes, he had seven carries for 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 70–3 victory.

The victory put Texas in the National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl against the USC Trojans.

He had five carries for 34 rushing yards in the 41–38 victory as Texas claimed a perfect season and National Championship.

He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he won the 2006 Rose Bowl, and was selected by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft.

Charles began his career as a backup to halfback Larry Johnson, rushing only 67 times for 357 yards in his rookie season.

On March 11, 2006, Charles placed fourth in the NCAA 60-meter indoor track and field championship finals.

On May 14, 2006, Charles captured his first conference title and the third Big 12 100-meter title for Texas by winning the event in 10.23 at the Big 12 outdoor meet.

He led the 200 meter race after the preliminary round but elected not to participate in the final, as Texas had the Big 12 team title well in hand.

On June 10, at the NCAA outdoor competition, Charles took fifth place in the 100 meter finals, edging out UTEP's stand-out sprinter Churandy Martina (sixth place), who earlier in the year ran a 9.76 (wind-aided) 100-meters.

Charles also placed seventh in the 200 meter finals, and ran the third leg of the 4 × 100 Texas Longhorn relay team, earning a fifth place in the finals.

His breakout season came the following year in 2009.

In his second year, Charles rushed 190 times for 1,120 yards, despite only starting 10 games after Johnson was suspended.

Shortly thereafter, Johnson was released, leaving Charles as Kansas City's starting halfback.

Over the next several seasons he would make four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams, and would lead the league in rushing touchdowns in 2013.

Charles later suffered injuries, which lead to him appearing in just five games in 2015 and 2016, and he was eventually released by the team.

In 2015, he shared his experience including being invited to participate in the Special Olympics: "[...] I was afraid. I was lost. When I was a boy, I had trouble reading. I found out I had a learning disability. People made fun of me. They said I would never go anywhere. But I learned I can fly. When I was 10 years old, I had a chance to compete in the Special Olympics. That's right, the Special Olympics gave me my first chance to discover the talent I did not know that I had. When I competed in the Special Olympics, I found out just how fast I was. I stood high on the podium, getting the gold medal in track and field."

Charles attended and played high school football for Memorial High School of Port Arthur, Texas.

As a junior, he ran for 2,051 yards and 25 touchdowns while leading Memorial to the 5A Division II quarterfinals.

He was named first-team all-state by the Texas Sports Writers Association and second-team all-state by the Associated Press.

Charles followed up his stellar junior season by rushing for 2,056 yards and 25 touchdowns during his senior year with the Titans.

The Associated Press named him to their first-team all-state squad and he was declared the Houston Chronicle area offensive MVP.

Charles then played a season for the Denver Broncos and had a 2-game stint for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018.

He is the all-time leader in yards per carry among players with at least 1,000 carries with 5.4 yards per carry.

Charles has reported being diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, having difficulty reading, and being mocked and teased.