Akrum Wadley (born March 13, 1995) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He was signed by the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2018. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Early years

Akrum was born on March 13, 1995, in Newark, New Jersey to Sheronda Phelps and John Wadley. Akrum is one of five sons. Wadley attended

Weequahic High School Weequahic High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Weequahic section of Newark in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The school is operated by the Newar ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

to play college football.

College career

Wadley played at Iowa from 2014 to 2017. In his final collegiate game, he was named the MVP of the

2017 Pinstripe Bowl The 2017 Pinstripe Bowl was a bowl game, a post-season American college football event that was played on December 27, 2017, at Yankee Stadium in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The eighth edition of the Pinstripe Bowl featured the Iowa ...

after rushing for 88 yards with a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

. During his career, he rushed for 2,872 yards over 536 carries with 28 touchdowns. While at Iowa, Wadley was a

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

major

Statistics

Professional career

Tennessee Titans

Wadley signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 11, 2018. He was waived on September 1, 2018.

Atlanta Legends

In 2019, he signed with the Atlanta Legends of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on March 6, 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.

Houston Roughnecks

In October 2019, Wadley was picked by the

Houston Roughnecks The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and plays its home games at TDECU Stadium. History ...

during the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social m ...

. He was waived on January 5, 2020.

Personal life

In a report published on June 29, 2020, Wadley made allegations against Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz, offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz, and former strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle. The allegations included mistreatment and racial disparities.

References

External links

Iowa Hawkeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadley, Akrum 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Newark, New Jersey American football running backs Iowa Hawkeyes football players Tennessee Titans players Atlanta Legends players Houston Roughnecks players Weequahic High School alumni