Robert Alan Alexander (April 21, 1958 – June 7, 2022) was an

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 ...

who played collegiately for the West Virginia Mountaineers.

Collegiate career

Alexander's career began at

South Charleston High School South Charleston High School is a public high school in West Virginia serving grades 9 through 12. It is located south of the Kanawha River, west of the city of Charleston, in the city of South Charleston's Spring Hill neighborhood. The school ...

, where he was the

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

national player of the year his senior season as picked by

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

. He then attended

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

over

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

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 ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. On his freshman campaign, Alexander shared backup time with Walter Easley, behind starting back Dave Riley. Alexander rushed for 426 yards and 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 ...

his freshman year. Alexander shared starting time his sophomore year with Dane Conwell, a freshman, in 1978. Alexander, although sharing carries, rushed for 310 yards, third on the team. In 1979, Alexander's junior season, he finally became the full starter of the Mountaineers' squad. Alexander rushed for 656 yards and two scores that season, which was the best of his career. Alexander's best season came in 1980, his final year. Alexander rushed for a career-high and team-high 1,064 yards along with 5 touchdowns that season. At the time, the 4th most yards in a single season in Mountaineer history. At the time he left WVU Alexander ranked 2nd on the schools career rushing yards list. Alexander is currently ranked 10th on the Mountaineers' all-time rushing yardage list with a career total of 2,474 yards rushing.

Professional career

Alexander was drafted in the tenth round of the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 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 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

by the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

and played for them for two seasons.

Death

On June 7, 2022, Alexander was found dead in his

St. Albans, West Virginia St. Albans is a city in Kanawha County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Kanawha and Coal rivers. The population was 10,861 at the 2020 census. History St. Albans was laid out in 1816. Originally, it was known as Philip ...

, home. There were no signs of foul play.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Robert 1958 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American players of American football American football running backs Los Angeles Rams players Players of American football from West Virginia South Charleston High School alumni West Virginia Mountaineers football players People from St. Albans, West Virginia Sportspeople from South Charleston, West Virginia