Rufus Ferguson (born April 28, 1951), nicknamed "the Roadrunner", is a former American football running back.

Early years

Ferguson was born in Miami, Florida, in 1951 and played high school football at Miami Killian High School.

University of Wisconsin

Ferguson played college football for the Wisconsin Badgers from 1970 to 1972. He set a Wisconsin career record with 2,814 rushing yards. (His career rushing record was broken by Billy Marek in 1975.) As a junior, he rushed for 1,222 yards and was selected by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI) as a first-team running back on the

1971 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1971 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All- Big Ten Conference teams for the 1971 Big Ten Conference football season. Offensive selections Quarterbacks * Maurie Dai ...

. As a senior, he rushed for 1,004 yards and was selected by the AP as a first-team player and by the UPI as a second-team player on the

1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. The teams selected by the Big Ten coaches for th ...

. He received a degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin in June 1973.

Professional football

He was selected by the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

in the 16th round of the 1973 NFL Draft, but he was cut during the preseason, after being deemed too short (listed as either five feet, four inches five feet, five inches, or five feet, six inches) for the NFL. He signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League in September 1973, but he was cut by the team later that month. Ferguson was drafted by the Portland Storm of the newly-formed

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...

. During the 1974 WFL season, Ferguson ranked fourth in the league in rushing with 1,200 yards and led the Storm with 53 pass receptions. In June 1975, he signed with the

Portland Thunder (WFL) The Portland Thunder (originally Portland Storm) was an American football team in the World Football League based out of Portland, Oregon. When the World Football League was created in October 1973, the Storm was the original New York franchise. ...

. When the WFL folded prior to the end of the 1975 season, Ferguson was the Thunder's leading rusher with 768 yards and also had 32 receptions. He became known in Portland for his touchdown dance that was known as either the "Roadrunner Shuffle" or the "Thunderbolt Shuffle".

Later years

Ferguson's son,

Rhadi Ferguson Rhadi Bullard Ferguson (born April 3, 1975) is an American mixed martial arts trainer, strength and conditioning coach, motivational speaker, and black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Biography Ferguson grew up in Miami, Florida in th ...

, was born in 1975 and became a martial arts champion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Rufus 1951 births Living people Miami Killian Senior High School alumni Players of American football from Miami American football running backs Wisconsin Badgers football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Portland Storm players Portland Thunder players Players of Canadian football from Miami