Marlon Lucky (born February 28, 1986) 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 wi ...

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

. He was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals 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 2009. He played college football at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

Early years

Lucky lived in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

through seventh grade before moving to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He attended

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is located in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, in ...

, leaving with 4,881 rushing yards and 88 touchdowns, including 2,036 yards and 40 touchdowns in his senior year. His performance earned him selection as the most valuable player in his league and first-team CalHi Sports all-state honors. In 2009 Lucky returned to North Hollywood High School and talked to the former JV football players.

College career

Coming out of high school, Lucky was one of the nation's most sought-after prospects in 2005.

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 ...

ranked him as the second best running back in the country. He ultimately decided to play for

, over USC,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, and others. During his freshman season, he was a backup to senior

Cory Ross Cory Ross (born September 22, 1982) is a former American football, Canadian football and indoor football running back. He is now the head coach of the Quad City Steamwheelers of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He most recently played for the E ...

, rushing for only 129 yards on 43 carries. Most of his success came on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. During his sophomore season in 2006, Lucky was part of Nebraska's four-man rotation at I-back that helped rush for 2,400 yards and 26 touchdowns. He finished the season with 728 rushing yards, 383 receiving yards, and 6 rushing touchdowns, earning Second-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

honors. In 2007, as a junior, Lucky became the Cornhuskers' main back, rushing for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns while also catching a school-record 75 passes for 705 yards and three touchdowns. Lucky considered entering the 2008 NFL Draft, but ultimately decided against it. As a senior in 2008, Lucky battled through injuries finishing with only 517 yards on 125 carries, 26 receptions for 288 yards and eight total touchdowns. He finished his college career with 2,393 rushing yards on 515 carries and 22 touchdowns. He also added 1,379 receiving yards on 135 receptions and four touchdowns. After the 2008 regular season ended, Lucky played in the

2009 Gator Bowl The 2009 Gator Bowl was played on January 1, 2009, as part of the 2008 College Football season. It featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who finished tied for first in the Big 12 Conference's North Division with Missouri, and the Clemson Tigers, wh ...

and the 2009 East–West Shrine Game; he was the offensive MVP of the latter game.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Lucky was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals as an

in 2009. He was waived on August 22.

New York Sentinels

Lucky was signed by the

New York Sentinels New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

of the United Football League on November 7, 2009. He tried out for the New York Jets shortly after the 2010 NFL Draft.

Omaha Nighthawks

Lucky was signed by the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

on July 15, 2011.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsCincinnati Bengals bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucky, Marlon 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas Players of American football from Los Angeles American football running backs Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Sentinels players Omaha Nighthawks players Omaha Beef players Lincoln Haymakers players Sioux City Bandits players North Hollywood High School alumni