Ron Rivers (born November 13, 1971, in
Elizabeth, New Jersey) is a former professional
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 ...
player who played
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 ...
for six seasons for the
Detroit Lions,
Atlanta Falcons, and
Pittsburgh Steelers for one year. Rivers played
college football for
Fresno State University
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...
, where he rushed for 3,473 yards and 28 touchdowns in three seasons, with an average of over 6 yards per carry. He also caught 56 passes for 558 yards and another touchdown, and returned 19 kickoffs for 357 yards. Rivers went on to play six seasons in the NFL, recording 1,490 all-purpose yards and 4 touchdowns.
Rivers' son,
Ronnie Rivers, also attended Fresno State, where he broke his father's school record for touchdowns (52) and recorded 5,028 all-purpose yards. After going undrafted in 2022, Ronnie Rivers signed as a free agent with the
Arizona Cardinals.
Professional career
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Ron
1971 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey
American football running backs
Fresno State Bulldogs football players
Detroit Lions players
Atlanta Falcons players
Players of American football from New Jersey