Spencer Raleigh Ware III (born November 23, 1991) 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 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 ...

. He played

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 ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and played in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. He was drafted in the sixth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

, with whom he won

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

as a rookie.

Early years

Ware attended and played

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 ...

at Princeton High School.

College career

During his college football career, Ware rushed for 1,240 yards on 292 carries with ten

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 ...

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

coaches named him a second-team All-SEC selection after the 2011 season. He also played 21 games for the

LSU Tigers baseball The LSU Tigers baseball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference. It ranks seventh overall with 18 College World Series appeara ...

team. After his junior season, Ware decided to forgo his senior season and entered the

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Ware was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

with the 194th overall pick. He appeared in two games as a rookie and recorded three carries for ten yards. While Ware saw sparse usage throughout the season, the Seahawks went on to win the Super Bowl against the

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 ...

. He was released on August 20, 2014.

Kansas City Chiefs

On December 31, 2014, Ware signed a future contract with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

. On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Chiefs and was re-signed to the practice squad. Ware was activated off the practice squad for the Week 8 matchup against 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 ...

for the NFL game in London on November 1, 2015. In this game, Ware scored his first NFL touchdown, a four-yard run, in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter against the Detroit Lions. Ware ended the 2015 season playing in 11 games with two starts, rushing for 403 yards and six touchdowns. In 2016, with starter

Jamaal Charles Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles (born December 27, 1986) is a former American football running back. He played college football for the University of Texas, where he won the 2006 Rose Bowl, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third ro ...

coming off a knee injury suffered in 2015, Ware became the starter for 2016. He started 14 games, rushing for 921 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught 33 passes for 447 yards and two touchdowns. Coming into the 2017 season, Ware was projected to be the Chiefs' starting running back after the release of longtime starter Jamaal Charles. In the team's third preseason game against the

, Ware suffered a torn PCL and additional knee damage. He was placed on injured reserve on September 2, 2017. On November 30, 2018, he was named starting running back for the

following the release of starting running back

Kareem Hunt Kareem AJ Hunt (born August 6, 1995) is an American football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Toledo and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the third round of the ...

after he misled the team regarding an assault alleged to have occurred earlier that year. In his first game as the new starter, Ware achieved 47 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He finished the 2018 season with 246 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

Indianapolis Colts

On April 30, 2019, Ware signed with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. He was placed on the reserve/

physically unable to perform list Physically unable to perform (PUP) is a roster designation used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who suffered injuries during football-related activities prior to the start of training camp. Players on the PUP list may participate ...

on August 2, 2019 after undergoing ankle surgery. He was released on September 20, 2019.

Kansas City Chiefs (second stint)

On December 3, 2019, Ware was re-signed by the

. He was placed on injured reserve on December 25, 2019 with a shoulder injury. He finished the 2019 season with 17 carries for 51 rushing yards in three games. Without Ware, the Chiefs would go on to win

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

giving Ware his second

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 ...

Chicago Bears

On December 22, 2020, Ware signed with the practice squad of the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 18, 2021.

NFL statistics

Personal life

On January 12, 2014, Ware was booked in Seattle's King County Jail under the charge of DUI. However, that case was dismissed in July 2014 after a judge ruled that the officer lacked reasonable suspicion of DUI at the time he initiated the traffic stop. On June 23, 2016, Ware hosted an event at Full Throttle Indoor Karting "where he provided free transportation, go-karting, and lunch to the thirty kids of the inton HillsRecreational Center."WSP: Princeton product and Chiefs RB Spencer Ware hosts event for local kids
/ref> Ware expressed gratitude for all the people who helped him become a professional athlete and encouraged the kids to "work together" to accomplish their goals in life.

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bioLSU Tigers football bioLSU Tigers baseball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ware, Spencer 1991 births Living people Players of American football from Cincinnati American football running backs Baseball players from Ohio LSU Tigers football players LSU Tigers baseball players Seattle Seahawks players Kansas City Chiefs players Indianapolis Colts players Chicago Bears players