Mark Deyon Higgs (born April 11, 1966 in Owensboro, Kentucky) 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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

and Arizona Cardinals. He was drafted in the 8th round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the

. He played college football at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

Early years

Higgs was constantly discouraged from playing football due to his size (5'7", 195 lbs), but still went on to surpass many of the rushing records at Owensboro (Senior) High School, becoming a two-time All-American and All-state selection. As a junior, he had 325 rushing yards against Owensboro Catholic High School. As a senior, he carried the ball on nearly every play, posting 2,858 rushing yards, 32

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s and nine 200-yard games, including 297 yards against Boone County High School. He was a three-year starter, finishing as the school's all-time leading rusher by setting state records with 6,721 yards and 75

College career

Higgs accepted a football scholarship from the

. As a freshman, he was a backup at

behind George Adams, appearing in 10 games, while registering 476 rushing yards, 5

s and a school record 6.3 yards per carry, including a single-game average per carry record (29.0, 4-116 against

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

). The next year, he suffered a right knee injury in spring drills, but was able to return that fall to play in 11 games. He alternated with

Marc Logan Marc Anthony Logan (born May 9, 1965) is a former American football running back that played NCAA D1-A before playing in the NFL. Marc weighs in at 6'0, 228 lbs. Marc attended the University of Kentucky in college wearing the number 25. At Kent ...

, tallying 611 rushing yards and 5

s. As a junior, he was a part of a platoon of

s that included Logan and Ivy Joe Hunter, rushing for 527 yards and 5

s. In his final season, he set school records with 1,278 rushing yards, 6.6-yard average, six 100-yard games and 10 rushing

s. He recorded the best career average per rushing attempt (5.43) in school history and became the third all-time leading rusher (2,892 yards). He also had two of the five longest scoring plays in the University of Kentucky history - an 85-yard

run against

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

in 1987 and an 84-yard

run against

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in 1984. In 1997, his jersey number was retired. In 2005, he was inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Higgs was selected by the

in the eighth round (205th overall) of the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

, after dropping because he was seen as being too small to play professional football. In training camp he passed Darryl Clack on the depth chart as Herschel Walker's backup, but didn't have any opportunities to see the field during the regular season.

Philadelphia Eagles

On March 2,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

, he signed with the

as a Plan B free agent. He finished the year with one start, 49 carries for 184 yards and 3 receptions for 9 yards.

Miami Dolphins

Higgs joined the Dolphins as a Plan B free agent prior to the 1990 season, where he was initially a fourth-string

and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

player. The next year, he was named the starter, replacing an injured Sammie Smith and would keep the role even after Smith recovered from his injury. During the 1993 season, Higgs was replaced as the team's starting running back by

Terry Kirby Terry Gayle Kirby (born January 20, 1970) is a former professional American football player who played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1993 to 2002. A 6'1" running back from the University of Virginia, he is the younger br ...

. Higgs had led the team in rushing for the three consecutive seasons with totals of 905, 915 and 693 yards, a consecutive feat that had only been matched by

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Me ...

Karim Abdul-Jabbar Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar (born Sharmon Shah; June 28, 1974), known previously as Karim Abdul-Jabbar, is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). Al-Jabbar played college footba ...

and Ronnie Brown. In

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

, he accepted a pay cut to remain with the Dolphins, but was eventually released on November 15.

Arizona Cardinals

On November 17,

, he signed as a

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 ...

with the Arizona Cardinals. The next year, he played in only one game, after a hit resulted in a back injury that kept him out for 13 weeks. He was waived on December 1,

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, and retired shortly afterwards.

Career highlights

Owensboro (Senior) High School, 1980-1984

* All-time leading rusher, (6,721) * Yards rushing - season (2,858 in 1983) * Most rushing touchdowns, career (75) * Total touchdowns - career (75)

University of Kentucky, 1984-1987

* #1 Best Average Per Rushing Attempt, Career (5.43) * #3 Most Rushing Yards, Career (2,892) * #9 Most All-Purpose Yardage (Career), 3,387 * Inducted into the University of Kentucky Hall of Fame in 2005

Miami Dolphins

* Leading rusher, 1991-1993 * #9 NFL leading rusher, 1992 (915) * #8 Most 100-yard rushing Games (8) * Longest blocked punt return for a TD (19 yards) * Only the second Dolphins player (out of three total) to lead in rushing for three consecutive seasons (after Larry Czonka and before

)

Personal life

Higgs began his own business, M and T Transportation, Inc, in 1998. He joined the Miami Dolphins Alumni Association's advisory board in 2002, and is a frequent visitor to the Dolphins' radio show. In 2007, he became the running backs coach for

Miami Central High School Miami Central Senior High School is a secondary school located at 1781 NW 95th Street in West Little River, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States.0.1% 80.7% of students were eligible for free or reduced lunch. Miami Central has a large Hait ...

. He is one of three family members to hold the top scoring records at Owensboro High School. He is the younger brother of retired Cleveland Cavaliers/ Denver Nuggets guard Kenny Higgs, who is the all-time leading scorer of the Red Devils' basketball team (1,833).Notable Kentucky African Americans - Higgs, Kenny
/ref> His cousin Dwight Higgs, a former Euroleague basketball guard and three time Division II All-American ( Kentucky Wesleyan), holds the OHS record for most points scored in a single season (887), and is the #7 overall scorer. Dwight's younger brother Bobby is also a top 20 career scorer at Owensboro High, ranking at #15.''

References

External links

Making his Mark
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgs, Mark 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky American football running backs Kentucky Wildcats football players Dallas Cowboys players Philadelphia Eagles players Miami Dolphins players Arizona Cardinals players