Terry Witherspoon (born August 22, 1977) is a former American football

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys. 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 ...

at Clemson University.

Early years

Witherspoon attended

Monroe High School Monroe High School may refer to: *Monroe High School (Tehachapi) — Tehachapi, California *Monroe High School (Los Angeles) — Los Angeles, California * Monroe High School (Florida) — the former high school for negro students in Co ...

. He earned all-conference honors in three out of four years while playing five different positions:

, tailback, tight end, linebacker and defensive end. As a senior, he was rated the number six player in the state of North Carolina. He recorded 1,002 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. He finished his high school career with 422 carries for 2,780 yards, 39 rushing touchdowns, 117 tackles (73 solo), 12 sacks, one touchdown reception and one touchdown pass.

College career

Witherspoon accepted a football scholarship from Clemson University. As a redshirt freshman, he started four games at

. He had 12 carries for 61 yards and one touchdown against Georgia Tech. He had 11 carries for 71 yards against Wake Forest University. He rushed for a touchdown in the 1998 Peach Bowl against

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

. He finished the season with 58 carries for 224 yards (third on the team) and 3 touchdowns. As a sophomore, he became the regular starter at

, posting 56 carries for 157 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns (tied for second on the team). As a junior he was named the regular starter at

, tallying 18 carries for 46 yards and one rushing touchdown. As a senior, he was named the regular starter at

, collecting 5 carries for 29 yards. He only missed one game in his college career, finishing with 137 carries for 456 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Professional career

Witherspoon was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

after the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. He was waived on September 3. He was signed to the

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 5. He was released on October 9. On October 22,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, he was signed to the Dallas Cowboys'

. On December 22, he was promoted to the active roster. He played in the last 3 games, blocking for running back

Emmitt Smith Emmitt James Smith III (born May 15, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. Among other accolades, he is the lea ...

. He was released on April 22,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

. On April 23,

, he was claimed off waivers by the

. He was released on August 25. On February 5,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, he was signed as a free agent by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He was released on August 18.

References

External links

Long Days Of Working Hard Payoff For Terry WitherspoonTerry Witherspoon Statistics
at NFL.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Witherspoon, Terry 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Monroe, North Carolina Players of American football from Union County, North Carolina American football fullbacks Clemson Tigers football players Dallas Cowboys players