Samuel Terrence McGuffie (born October 16, 1989) is an American

bobsled Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

der for the United States men's national team, 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 ...

and wide receiver and a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player. In American football, he most recently was a member of the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. Previously in the National Football League, he had spent time with the Oakland Raiders in training camp in 2013, and then was briefly a practice squad player for the Arizona Cardinals and later the New England Patriots. He played his freshman season of college football at

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 ...

before transferring to

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

to play his final three seasons in his native state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

High school career

McGuffie starred as a high school

for

Cy-Fair High School Cy-Fair High School is a secondary school located in Cypress, which is an unincorporated place in Harris County, Texas, near Houston. The school is located along U.S. Highway 290 and is part of the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District ...

Cypress, Texas Cypress is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, located completely inside the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City of Houston. The Cypress area is located along U.S. Highway 290 (Northwest Freeway) is twenty-f ...

, where he rushed for a total of 5,847 yards in 699 total carries and scored 83 touchdowns. Those numbers include a junior season in which he carried the ball 358 times for 3,121 yards and also scored 44 touchdowns. Sam was known to “hurdle his opponents” when they tried to tackle him. He was very elusive when he ran with the football. McGuffie's stellar career at high school garnered a lot of attention from college football scouts. He was voted the tenth-best running back in the country by

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

. McGuffie was also rated a four-star recruit by

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 ...

, who also ranked him as the ninth-best running back in the nation.

College career

Michigan

McGuffie was recruited heavily coming out of high school. He made his verbal commitment to play for

live on Houston's television station KPRC. McGuffie chose Michigan over California, Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and USC. However, when

Rich Rodriguez Richard Alan Rodriguez (; born May 24, 1963), also known as Rich Rod, is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Jacksonville State University. Rodriguez previously was the head football coach at Salem Un ...

took over as the head coach of Michigan, McGuffie had doubts about whether to stay, though in the end he remained committed to Michigan. He attributed the decision to stay in Michigan in large part due to the presence of running backs coach Fred Jackson. McGuffie started as a true freshman for Michigan and scored his first touchdown in a loss to

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. When Michigan played at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, McGuffie had a breakout game, in which he rushed for 131 yards and also added 47 yards receiving with a touchdown. McGuffie suffered three concussions during his freshman season and on December 12, 2008, McGuffie decided not to return to

Rice

McGuffie transferred to

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

after his freshman season at Michigan to be closer to home. During his first year at Rice, McGuffie had the third highest rushing yardage total of any back in Conference USA, with 883 yards and six touchdowns. He also had receiving totals of 384 yards and three touchdowns, making him one of only three players in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision to gain both 880 yards rushing and 380 yards receiving in 2010. McGuffie missed several games during the 2011 season because of injuries, including the last five games of the season. For the 2012 season, McGuffie moved to a new position as a wide receiver, catching 54 passes for 603 yards and five touchdowns.

Track and field

McGuffie was also a standout track athlete while in college at

and

. He competed in the

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

and

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 ...

, posting personal bests of 6.82 seconds and 10.70 seconds, respectively. He also participated in the 60 meter hurdles, with his fastest finish in 8.42 seconds, and in the 1000 meters with a best time of 2:52.83 minutes. In field events, McGuffie competed in the high jump and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

, as well as the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and the shot put.

Personal bests

Professional career

2013 Pro Day

Oakland Raiders

McGuffie went undrafted in 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 ...

, he signed a contract with the Oakland Raiders on April 27, 2013. On August 25, 2013, he was waived by the Raiders.

Arizona Cardinals

McGuffie was signed to the Arizona Cardinals practice squad. He was released on September 17, 2013.

New England Patriots

McGuffie was signed to the New England Patriots practice squad in December 2013. He was released on March 11, 2014.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

McGuffie spent the 2014 CFL season with the

of the

as running back/wide-receiver. He did not see any playing time, and was released by the Blue Bombers on April 6, 2015.

Bobsled career

On October 26, 2015, McGuffie was announced as a member of the USA Bobsled National Team. On January 15, 2018, McGuffie was announced as a member of the 2018 U.S. Olympic Men's

Bobsleigh Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...

Team for the

XXIII Olympic Winter Games , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , wint ...

in Pyeongchang,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. McGuffie was selected as a push crewman for the four man bobsled piloted by Codie Bascue as well as the brakeman for the two-man bobsled also piloted by Bascue.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers profile

Rice football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuffie, Sam 1989 births Living people American football running backs American male bobsledders Bobsledders at the 2018 Winter Olympics Michigan Wolverines football players Olympic bobsledders for the United States Rice Owls football players Rice Owls men's track and field athletes Players of American football from Harris County, Texas Track and field athletes from Texas