Johnathan Jerone Arrington (born January 23, 1983) 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 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 ...

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loca ...

and the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, and received consensus All-American recognition. The

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

selected him in the second round of the

2005 NFL Draft The 2005 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 NFL draft, draft was held April 23–24, 2005 NFL seaso ...

. He also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

and had a brief stint with the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

and

Las Vegas Locomotives The Las Vegas Locomotives (called the Locos for short) were a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada that played in the United Football League. The team played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium, home field for the Unive ...

of the UFL. He also was the last player to get the

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

Award.

Early years

Arrington was born in Nashville, North Carolina. He attended

Northern Nash High School Northern Nash High School is a high school located in Nash County, west of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina city limits. History Northern Nash High School opened in 1966, consolidating the former Nashville High School, Red Oak High School, Benve ...

and was a letterman in football as a tailback. In football, he was a three-year varsity starter and a two-time All-Conference selection. He was also named his team's Most Valuable Player and the Area Offensive Player of the Year as a senior.

College career

Arrington was sent to College of the Canyons by

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

with the intent that he would play for the Pirates in two years. As a sophomore at College of the Canyons, he won All-Region III honors (which is selected by the California Community College Football Coaches Association and the Junior College Athletic Bureau) and had 135 rushing attempts for 769 yards (5.7 yards per rushing attempt average), and caught 30 passes for 320 yards (10.67 yards per reception average). His 19 touchdowns that season, and 29 career touchdowns, were both school records. Arrington transferred to the University of California, Berkeley as a junior, and played for the

California Golden Bears football The California Golden Bears football program represents the University of California, Berkeley in college football as a member of the Pac-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I, NCAA Division I FBS level. The team plays its home games at Californi ...

team in 2003 and 2004. Arrington would receive few carries for most of the 2003 season aside from his 114-yard performance against Southern Mississippi. A knee injury to then starting running back Adimchinobi Echemandu would thrust Arrington into the starting role against the Washington Huskies. This proved to be his breakout game as he mauled the Huskies defense for 185 yards and a touchdown. It took him only 14 carries to achieve this feat. In the first half managed to tally 157 yards on ten carries. He also caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from

Aaron Rodgers Aaron Charles Rodgers (born December 2, 1983) is an American football quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Rodgers began his college football career at Butte College in 2002 before transferring to the ...

giving him a total of 215 yards on the day. Despite his performance, he would receive limited carries for the rest of the 2003 season. He did play a pivotal role in the

Insight Bowl The Guaranteed Rate Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played in the state of Arizona since 1989. Played as the Copper Bowl from inception through 1996, it was known as the Insight.com Bowl from 1997 through 2001, then ...

by catching five passes for 38 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown pass that would reduce

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

's lead to only 28-21 at halftime. Cal would ultimately prevail 52-49 on a game-winning field goal. The 2004 season would see Arrington earn the starting tailback spot after the departure of Echemandu for the NFL. Arrington played a major role in the Cal Bears' first 10-win season since 1949. He would rush for at least 100 yards in every single game that season. Arrington rushed for 169 yards or more in eight of his team's 12 games as well. Ultimately Arrington would have one of the greatest seasons of any running back in NCAA and Pac-10 history, gaining 2,018 rushing yards that season. He became only the third Pac-10 Tailback to gain over 2,000 yards, joining USC tailbacks

Marcus Allen Marcus LeMarr Allen (born March 26, 1960) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the greatest goal line and short- ...

and Charles White. His mark is also the tenth best total in NCAA history. He would receive the honor of the Pop Warner Award, deeming him the best College Football player on the west coast. He would also earn All-American and All-Pacific-10 conference honors. Ultimately, the season would end in disappointment. Despite a stellar 10-1 record, the Bears were bypassed for a BCS Bowl bid by The University of Texas. As a result, they played in the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl against a 7-4 Texas Tech squad, where Cal was upset by a score of 45-31, a disappointing end to Arrington's college career. In addition, Arrington was not even invited to the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

ceremony (a distinction afforded the top three to five likely winners) despite having a better statistical year (15 TDs, 2018 yards rushing, 6.98 yards per carry) than the number 2 vote-getter,

Adrian Peterson Adrian Lewis Peterson (born March 21, 1985) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest running backs in football history. He played college football at Oklahoma, where he set the ...

(15 TDs, 1925 yards rushing, 5.68 yards per carry).

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

After drafting him in the second round of the

, the Cardinals placed him as the starting running back on the depth chart, with the intention of having him share carries with

Marcel Shipp Marcel Cornelius Shipp (born August 8, 1978) is a former American football running back and current coach. He played as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) from 2001 to 2008 for the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans. He was si ...

. He started the first game against the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

gaining 5 yards on 8 carries (0.625 average). After this poor showing in his first game, he didn't play a snap the second game of the season against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. By the end of the season, he had played 15 games with 5 starts, gaining 370 yards on 112 carries (3.3 average) and 2 touchdowns. That following offseason the Cardinals signed

Edgerrin James Edgerrin Tyree James (; born August 1, 1978) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami for the Miami Hurr ...

. The Cardinals' drafting of

Tim Hightower Timothy Michael Hightower (born May 23, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Richmond and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He also played f ...

in 2008 resulted in Arrington being shifted to third place on the depth chart at running back. He became the team's principal kick returner and in

Super Bowl XLIII Super Bowl XLIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champions Arizona Cardinals to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

caught 2 passes for 35 yards.

Denver Broncos

Arrington signed with the

on March 4, 2009. He was released on May 27, 2009 after failing his physical. It was determined that Arrington would need season-ending microfracture surgery on his right knee, following surgery to the same knee in February. He was re-signed on March 4, 2010.

Philadelphia Eagles

Arrington was traded to the

in exchange for linebacker Joe Mays on July 30, 2010. He was waived on September 3. Due to Arrington being released prior to the start of the season, the Eagles received a 2012 sixth-round draft pick from the Broncos.

Las Vegas Locomotives

Before the 2011 season, Arrington signed with the

of the United Football League.

References

External links

Cal Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arrington, J. J. 1983 births Living people All-American college football players American football return specialists American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players California Golden Bears football players College of the Canyons Cougars football players Denver Broncos players Las Vegas Locomotives players People from Nashville, North Carolina Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from North Carolina