Bernard Scott (born February 10, 1984) 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 drafted by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

in the sixth round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

. 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 ...

at Abilene Christian. His brother

Daryl Richardson Daryl Lashay Richardson (born April 12, 1990) is a former American football running back. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Abilene Christian. College career Richar ...

is also a former NFL running back.

Early years

A native of

Vernon, Texas Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 Census had a population of 11,002. History The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After the ...

, Scott had a troubled past. A Class 3A first-team all-state selection as a high school junior in 2001, Scott was kicked off his high school team at Vernon High School because of an off-campus fight after the season. He was not eligible for his senior year, and finally graduated from

Wichita Falls High School Wichita Falls High School (WFHS) is a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) and is one of the district's three high schools. Located at 2149 Avenue H and Coyote B ...

in 2003.

College career

He went on to attend

Central Arkansas University The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only ...

, where he earned

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mid ...

Freshman of the Year honors in 2004, but was eventually dismissed from the football team for hitting a coach, along with a few other issues. Scott transferred to

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. Brenham is Blinn's main campus, with dormitories and apartments. History Blinn was established as Mission Institute in 1 ...

, where he was a first-team

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

All-America after leading the Buccaneers to a 12-0 season and the NJCAA national championship. Scott averaged 154.4 rushing yards per game, and he finished his only junior college season with a junior college-best 1,892 yards and 27 touchdowns. He was also first-team all Southwestern Junior College Football Conference. Rated a three-star recruit by ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'', Scott drew some interest by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

and

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, but eventually enrolled at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

in 2007. He had finished runner-up in the voting for the 2007

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harlo ...

Danny Woodhead Daniel Jacob Henry Woodhead (born January 25, 1985) is an amateur golfer who has qualified for the United States Golf Association championship tournaments, and was a former professional American football running back. He played college football a ...

. In that year, Scott broke the league's single-season rushing record with 2,165 yards and set a pair of NCAA Division II single-season records with 39 total touchdowns and 234 points scored. In 2008, Scott won the Harlon Hill Trophy in a landslide, getting the third-highest vote total in the 23-year history of the trophy.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Scott's NFL prospects were tarnished by his off-the-field issues. Besides his aforementioned trouble in high school and junior college, he has also been arrested for some traffic-related misdemeanors, and was put on an 18-month probation for failing to identify himself during a traffic stop in Abilene in the spring of 2007. However, he was drafted by the

in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Cincinnati Bengals

Following training camp, Scott made the active roster as a kick returner and as a backup to running back

Cedric Benson Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Texas Longhorns and was recognized as a co ...

. On November 15, 2009, Scott returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, which earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. In his first career start, in week 11 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, Scott rushed for 119 yards, including a 61-yard run that was the longest by a Bengal since

Corey Dillon Corey James Dillon (born October 24, 1974) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots. Dillon played college football at Washing ...

's 67-yard rush at

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

on September 15, 2002. He also became the first Bengals rookie to rush for 100 yards in a game since Dillon in .

Baltimore Ravens

Scott signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

on October 28, 2013. On December 7, 2013, the Ravens released Scott. On December 10, after a season-ending injury to

Brandon Stokley Brandon Ray Stokley (born June 23, 1976) is a former American football wide receiver and current radio personality. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at University of L ...

, Scott re-signed with the Ravens.

Toronto Argonauts

On March 3, 2015, Scott signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. He retired in May 2015.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bioOfficial bio at Cincinnati BengalsOfficial bio at Abilene Christian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Bernard 1984 births Living people People from Vernon, Texas Players of American football from Texas Wichita Falls High School alumni African-American players of American football American football running backs Canadian football running backs American players of Canadian football Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Blinn Buccaneers football players Central Arkansas Bears football players Cincinnati Bengals players Baltimore Ravens players Toronto Argonauts players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people