Zurlon Tipton (April 27, 1990 – June 28, 2016) was an

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 ...

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

and 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2014.

College career

Tipton played

Central Michigan University Central Michigan University (CMU) is a public research university in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Established in 1892 as the Central Michigan Normal School and Business Institute, the private normal school became a state institution and renamed Cen ...

. During his career, he rushed for 2,463 yards on 461 carries with 34

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 ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Tipton was signed by the

after going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. Tipton performed well in the preseason and made the Colts initial 53 man roster, but was waived on September 9, 2014, and re-signed to the practice squad shortly afterward. On November 22, Tipton was promoted to the active roster when Griff Whalen was waived. After seeing some limited action on special teams, Tipton played running back against the Dallas Cowboys and scored his first NFL touchdown on a 1-yard pass from

Matt Hasselbeck Matthew Michael Hasselbeck (born September 25, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College and was drafted in the sixth ro ...

. Tipton saw the first significant game action of his pro football career in the Colts' first game of the 2014 playoffs, supplanting the role of former third-overall

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 ( ...

draft pick

Trent Richardson Trenton Jamond Richardson (born July 10, 1990) is an American football running back for the Caudillos de Chihuahua of Fútbol Americano de México. He played college football for the University of Alabama, was recognized as an All-American, an ...

as the second running back behind

Dan Herron Daniel "Boom" Herron (born March 21, 1989) is a former American football running back. Herron played football at Warren G. Harding High School in Warren, Ohio, and later Ohio State University. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL d ...

. He carried the ball 11 times for a total of 40 yards, and also recorded a single reception for six yards. The Colts defeated the visiting

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 ...

by a score of 26–10 in the game. In the AFC Championship against the New England Patriots, Tipton scored his first NFL rushing touchdown. On September 5, 2015, Tipton was waived by the Colts, but signed to the practice squad on September 17, 2015. He was signed shortly after to the active roster. On November 26, 2015, Tipton was again waived by the Colts. He was signed by the Colts again on November 30, and waived again on December 21.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Personal life

Legal history

On December 25, 2015, Tipton was arrested and charged with criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, after reportedly firing a single shot from his

AR-15 An AR-15-style rifle is any lightweight semi-automatic rifle based on the Colt AR-15 design. The original ArmaLite AR-15 is a scaled-down derivative of Eugene Stoner's ArmaLite AR-10 design. The then Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation d ...

rifle into his girlfriend's house. He was released on a $3,000 bond.

Death

On June 28, 2016, Tipton accidentally shot himself in the stomach while removing a bag containing two guns from his car. He was taken to the hospital in good condition but died shortly afterwards.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tipton, Zurlon 1990 births 2016 deaths American football running backs Central Michigan Chippewas football players Deaths by firearm in Michigan Firearm accident victims in the United States Indianapolis Colts players Players of American football from Detroit Accidental deaths in Michigan