Reuben Droughns (; born August 21, 1978) is a retired

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 ...

. After playing

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 ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, he was drafted by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

in the third round of the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. During his nine years playing professional football, Droughns was also a member of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

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 ...

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 ( ...

, and

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. ...

of the

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. He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

with the Giants in their

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

victory against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. Following his playing career, Droughns worked as an assistant coach for the Serbian team Vukovi Beograd, the two-time champions of the Central European Football League from 2010-2013.

Early years

Born in Chicago, Droughns moved from the Midwest to

Orange County, California Orange County is located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,186,989, making it the third-most-populous county in California, the sixth-most-populous in the United States, a ...

where he attended

Anaheim High School Anaheim High School is a public, four-year high school in the city of Anaheim, California, United States and serves students living in the Colony District of Anaheim. Anaheim High School was first established in 1898, which makes it the oldest o ...

(

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most p ...

) and was a student and a

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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 ...

and wrestling. In football, he rushed for 49 touchdowns and 4,915 yards, which ranked as the second-most yards gained in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

high school football history when he ended his prep career. He was voted All-Orange County and All-CIF twice and All-Orange League three times, including Back of the Year honors as a senior. Droughns was also an accomplished wrestler, winning the CIF-Southern Section title in 1996 (Division I - 189 pounds) during his senior year.

College career

Droughns played

at the

in 1998 and 1999 and was a two-year starter. In his first game for Oregon, he ran for 202 yards and two scores in a 48-14 rout of

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. Although he missed one game and most of another due to an ankle injury, he would run for 214 yards and three touchdowns in a 63-28 blowout win over

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

and then 217 yards and three scores on the road against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

. One of his most impressive performances came at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

, where he ran for 172 yards and a score despite fracturing his right

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

late in the contest (a 41-38 overtime loss), an injury that would force him to miss the rest of the season. Despite the injury, Droughns was still named second team All-Pac=10 for his junior season. Droughns had 1,234 yards and nine touchdowns on 277 carries (4.5) as a senior, including rushing for over 200 yards in three contests, and was a first-team All-

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

choice as a senior. Droughns was a history major at Oregon. At Merced Junior College, he was a first team JUCO

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection as a sophomore after leading the nation in yards in 1997 with 1,611 while also scoring 13 touchdowns and leading the state of California in all-purpose yardage with 1,984 despite missing three games with a broken hand. Prep Star Magazine deemed him the nation's top JUCO running back after that campaign. Droughns was also an honorable mention All-American as a freshman, when he led the Blue Devils in rushing with 1,456 yards and 14 TDs.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

2000 season

He was drafted by the

out of the University of Oregon, in the third round (81st pick overall) of the

. Droughns spent the 2000 season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after separating his right shoulder on his first carry in Detroit's opening preseason game against the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

on August 4, then placed on injured reserve August 22.

2001 season

During the 2001 season, he played in nine games and started three for the Lions, rushing for 72 yards on 30 carries (2.4) and catching four passes for 21 yards (5.3) and a touchdown. He was waived by Detroit after Week 1 and was signed to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 18 before being re-signed by the Lions on October 9.

Denver Broncos

2002-2004 seasons

Droughns played for the

for three seasons from 2002 to 2004. Although originally intended to be a fullback, he ultimately rushed for 1,240 yards in 2004. He also tied a playoff franchise record by returning 6 kickoffs in the wildcard loss to Indianapolis, January 4, 2004. Despite this production, Droughns was not guaranteed the starting job for the 2005 season, so he asked for a trade.

Cleveland Browns

2005-2006 seasons

Droughns was traded to the

on March 30, 2005, for defensive linemen Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers. In 2005 he became the first Browns player to gain 1,000 yards rushing in a season since

Earnest Byner Earnest Alexander Byner (born September 15, 1962) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He is now the running back coach of Out-of-Door Academy. Playing career East Carolina University (1980–83 ...

and

Kevin Mack James Kevin Mack (born August 9, 1962) is a former professional American football player who played fullback. Early life Mack was born in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. He began playing football as a youth in Pop Warner football games, but ...

both achieved the feat in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

New York Giants

2007-2008 seasons

On March 9, 2007, Droughns was traded to the

in exchange for wide receiver Tim Carter. Droughns battled

Derrick Ward Derrick LaRon Ward (born August 30, 1980) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft and played for the New York Giants, Tampa ...

for the back-up job but became the third running back for the Giants, and helped the Giants replace the retired

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virginia ...

. However, due to his poor performances throughout the year, he dropped to fourth on the Giants depth chart behind rookie

Ahmad Bradshaw Ahmad Bradshaw (born March 19, 1986) is a former American football running back. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He played college football at Marshall. He is a two-time Super Bowl champion, ...

, and was replaced by

Domenik Hixon Domenik Hixon (born October 8, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver and return specialist in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college footb ...

as kick returner after similar special-teams performances. He was however, primarily used as a goal-line/third down back for most of the regular season, recording a team-leading 6

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

for the season. During the 2008 preseason, the emergence of D.J. Ware dropped Droughns to fifth on the Giants depth chart at running back, but he managed to make the final 53-man roster playing primarily on special teams. Droughns was released by the Giants on February 9, 2009.

References

External links

New York Giants biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Droughns, Reuben 1978 births Living people American football fullbacks Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players Merced Blue Devils football players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Oregon Ducks football players Players of American football from Chicago Players of American football from Anaheim, California African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople American expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Coaches of American football from California