Curtis Thomas Enis (born June 15, 1976) is a former American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for three seasons. 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 ...

for

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, and earned All-American honors. Enis was a first-round pick in the

1998 NFL Draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

, and played professionally for the NFL's

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He was also a key player in Midway’s 1998

NFL Blitz ''NFL Blitz'' is a series of American football themed video games originally released by Midway featuring National Football League (NFL) teams. It began as a 1997 arcade game '' NFL Blitz'' that was ported to home consoles and spawned a series of ...

, often regarded as the best player in the game, rarely fumbling when using the spin move.

Early years

Enis was born in

Union City, Ohio Union City is a village in Darke County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,666 at the 2010 census. It is directly across the state line from its twin city of Union City, Indiana. It has a 24/7 police and fire department run by Police a ...

. He attended Mississinawa Valley High School in Union City, where he was named a ''

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'' magazine high school All-American, and voted Ohio's Mr. Football Award by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. He was a three-time all-state selection at

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

, and

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the 1994

Big 33 Football Classic The Big 33 Football Classic is an all-star American football game featuring the top high-school football players in Pennsylvania. Played since 1957, the game is often described as the "Super Bowl of High School Football." Contests currently pit ...

. He spent one year at The Kiski School in

Saltsburg, Pennsylvania Saltsburg is a borough in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its location is in western Pennsylvania, in the southwestern corner of Indiana County near its border with Westmoreland County. The town was based on the construction of salt ...

College career

Enis attended Pennsylvania State University, where he majored in recreational management and played for coach

Joe Paterno Joseph Vincent Paterno (; December 21, 1926 – January 22, 2012), sometimes referred to as JoePa, was an American college football player, athletic director, and coach. He was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn ...

Penn State Nittany Lions football The Penn State Nittany Lions team represents the Pennsylvania State University in college football. The Nittany Lions compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference, which they joined in 1993 afte ...

team from 1995 to 1997. Following his junior season in 1997, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American. His rushing stats at

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

were: * 1995–113 attempts, 683 yards, 4 Touchdowns * 1996-224 Attempts, 1,210 yards, 13 Touchdowns * 1997-228 attempts, 1,363 yards, 19 Touchdowns

Professional career

Enis initially held out and ended up missing 26 days of training camp and 2 exhibition games after being drafted by the

with the 5th overall pick. Enis made just one start before tearing a ligament in his left knee in November 1998. His career in Chicago was largely defined by struggling to stay on the field as a result of injuries, and by poor production when he did play. By 2000, Enis had been supplanted by James Allen and was being utilized as a FB. In three years, he played 36 games, accumulating 1,497 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns. In 2001, at the age of 24, Enis signed a one-year deal with the

, but a degenerative condition in his left knee forced him into retirement.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Enis was hired by ABInBev as an Operation Manager. Enis was the head football coach at Bradford High School in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

from 2010 to 2013. Enis was the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) Division VI Coach of the Year in 2010. He resigned from that position in August 2014.

References

External links

Curtis Enis article at www.bearshistory.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enis, Curtis 1976 births Living people All-American college football players American football running backs Chicago Bears players Penn State Nittany Lions football players People from Union City, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio The Kiski School alumni