Christopher Michael Wells (born August 7, 1988), known as Chris Wells or Beanie Wells, 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 wi ...

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 ...

. He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round (31st overall pick) of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

out of

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

High school career

Wells was a highly touted player out of high school, where he played football at Akron Garfield High School and ran track. His high school running back coach, Ben Dunn, said that Beanie was one of the most explosive play-makers he had seen in his 28 years at the school. He was often considered the best recruit out of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Wells played at Akron Garfield High from 2002 to 2005, graduating early in December. In track, he was timed at 10.8 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contes ...

as a high school junior, and also recorded a 4.48

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

as a senior. He was listed as the top running back and All-American by Parade in 2006.Chris Wells Biography – The Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletics Site – OhioStateBuckeyes.com
/ref> Wells was offered to play at schools such as

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and USC, but he always knew he was going to play at

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, saying "I think I came out of my mom's womb wanting to go to Ohio State."

College career

Beanie's number during his career at Ohio State was #28.

Freshman season

During Wells's freshman year, he shared carries with Antonio Pittman, had a solid freshman year, and was a big part of the 2006 Buckeyes. The highlight of his freshman year came in the Ohio State–Michigan game where he broke a 52-yard run for a touchdown that put the Buckeyes ahead for the rest of the game.

Freshman statistics

Sophomore season

With Antonio Pittman going into the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

, Wells became the starting

and started every game in his sophomore year for

. Wells rushed for 222 yards in the annual rivalry game against

, the second most rushing yards by an Ohio State running back against Michigan.

Sophomore statistics

Junior season

Wells rushed 13 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown in his first game against the

Youngstown State Penguins The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University of Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as memb ...

on August 30, 2008. He also suffered a foot injury. After missing three games, he returned to the starting lineup September 27, 2008, against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, where he rushed for 105 yards on 14 carries. He then followed that performance up with a 22 carry, 168 yard effort against Wisconsin, which included a 33-yard touchdown on the game's first possession and a 54-yard run to start the second half. In the November 15 game against

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

, Wells leaped over an Illini defender, images of which were re-broadcast widely.

Junior statistics

Awards and honors

*2006 '' Parade'' All-American *2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP *2007 All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

first-team *2007

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

Second-team All-American *2008 team MVP *31st overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals in the 2009 NFL draft.

Professional career

Wells was drafted in the first round (31st overall) by the Arizona Cardinals in the

. He competed for the starting

job with Tim Hightower. On August 1, 2009, Wells was signed to a five-year contract. Later that day, he was carted off from practice with an ankle injury. On August 28, Wells made his professional debut with the Cardinals in a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. He ended the night with seven carries for a total of 46 yards and two touchdowns, including a 20-yard score in the second quarter. On October 25, in the second quarter against the New York Giants, Wells ran 13 yards for his first NFL touchdown. In that game, Wells rushed for 67 yards on 14 attempts. On December 20, Wells had his first career 100-yard game, against the Detroit Lions, with 17 carries for 110 yards and a touchdown. On January 16, 2010, Wells scored his first postseason touchdown, a four-yard rush against the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

. He ended the season with 793 yards rushing, second-best among rookies after

Knowshon Moreno Knowshon Rockwell Moreno (born July 16, 1987) is a former American football running back. He played college football at the University of Georgia and was selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He also pl ...

. He also caught 12 passes for an 11.9 yard average. For the

2011 NFL season The 2011 NFL season was the 92nd regular season of the National Football League and the 46th of the Super Bowl era. It began on Thursday, September 8, 2011, with the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay defeating the Super Bowl XLIV champion Ne ...

, the Cardinals and coach

Ken Whisenhunt Kenneth Moore Whisenhunt (born February 28, 1962) is an American football coach and former tight end who is currently an offensive analyst for Penn State. He played college football at Georgia Tech and was drafted in the twelfth round of the 19 ...

placed a heavy emphasis on the ground-attack led by Wells. The decision was mostly influenced by the departure of Tim Hightower to the Washington Redskins, in turn giving the starting back role to Wells. On November 27, 2011, Wells set a Cardinals single-game and personal record by rushing for 228 yards against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. Wells' performance eclipsed the team record previously held by

LeShon Johnson LeShon Eugene Johnson (born January 15, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1990s. He played college football for N ...

, who rushed for 214 yards against the

in 1996. Wells finished the 2011 season with his first 1,000 yard season, ending with 1,047 yards on 245 carries (a 4.3 average) and 10 touchdowns. On September 26, 2012, Wells was placed on the injured reserve list due to a severe turf toe injury but received the new "designated to return" tag and was expected to return in practice on November 7. On Sunday, November 25, 2012, Wells made his first appearance back from Injured Reserve for Arizona's game against the

, scoring his first two touchdowns of the season. His relationship with management soured near the end of the season. After gaining 4 yards against the Chicago Bears in the penultimate game of the season, Wells declared that he would be auditioning for the other 31 teams in his last appearance. Coach Whisenhunt held Wells out of the final game and on March 11, 2013, Wells was released by the Arizona Cardinals. On October 9, 2013, Wells tore his Achilles tendon during a workout with the Baltimore Ravens. After the injury, Wells did not sign with another NFL team.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Wells was born August 7, 1988, in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

and is one of eleven children. His parents are James and Paulette Wells. The nickname Beanie was given to him by his family at a young age and he has said, "when I was young, my big brother said I was skinny like a bean pole."

References

External links

Arizona Cardinals bio

ESPN.com bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Beanie 1988 births Living people American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Akron, Ohio African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people