Wayne Gallman Jr. (born October 1, 1994) is 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 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. Th ...

who is a free agent. 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

at Clemson and contributed to win the

CFP national championship The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season ...

(

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

) before being drafted in the fourth round of the

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia ...

by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

Early years

Gallman attended

Grayson High School Grayson High School is located in Loganville, Georgia and has an enrollment of over 3,100 students. The school pulls students from many areas of southeastern Gwinnett County, mainly Grayson, Loganville, and Lawrenceville. General informatio ...

Loganville, Georgia Loganville is a city in Walton and Gwinnett counties, Georgia, United States. The population was 10,458 at the 2010 census. Loganville is located about east of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. History An early variant name ...

, where he played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

. He was teammates with

Robert Nkemdiche Robert Chukwudumebi Nkemdiche ( ; born September 19, 1994) is an American football defensive tackle for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He attended the University of Mississippi for three years until declaring ...

and

Austin Meadows Austin Wade Meadows (born May 3, 1995) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays. Early life and amateur c ...

of the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. He was rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and committed to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

to play

College career

Gallman attended and played college football for Clemson from 2013–2016. He redshirted during his first year at Clemson in 2013. Gallman played in all 13 games in 2014 as a redshirt freshman and made nine starts. He made his collegiate debut in a loss at Georgia. On October 18, 2014, in a game against Boston College, he scored his first collegiate rushing touchdown. On October 6, he had 106 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, 43 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in a breakout performance against Wake Forest. In the regular season finale against South Carolina, he had 191 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the annual rivalry game. He finished the season with 769 yards on 161 carries and four touchdowns. Gallman entered his sophomore year in 2015 as the starter. As a redshirt sophomore in 2015, Gallman played in 14 games. In the season opener against Wofford, he had 92 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On Halloween, against North Carolina State, he had 172 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. In the ACC Conference Championship against North Carolina, he had 187 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and four receptions for 68 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown as part of a strong performance. Clemson's successful season qualified them for the College Football Playoff. In the Orange Bowl against Oklahoma in the National Semifinals, he had 150 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the victory. In the

2016 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2016 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that determined a national champion of NCAA Division I FBS college football for the 2015 season. It was played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona on Ja ...

against Alabama, he had 45 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with three receptions for 61 yards in the 45–40 loss. Overall, he finished the season with 1,514 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. As a redshirt junior in 2016, Gallman played 15 games with 1,133 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. In the season opener, he had 123 rushing yards and a touchdown in the victory at Auburn. On November 12, against Pittsburgh, he was held to 36 rushing yards but had three rushing touchdowns in Clemson's lone loss of the season. He bounced back in the next game with 161 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the victory at Wake Forest. Clemson returned to the College Football Playoff that year. In the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State in the National Semifinals, he had 85 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. He was part of the Clemson team that defeated

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...

in the

2017 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that was used to determine a national champion of college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2016 season. The game was played at Raymond Jame ...

by a score of 35–31. In the game, he had 18 carries for 46 yards and touchdown. In addition, he had three receptions for 39 yards After the 2016 season, Gallman decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

New York Giants

Gallman was drafted by the

in the fourth round, 140th overall, in the

. He was the 14th running back selected in that year's draft. Gallman made his NFL debut and scored his first NFL touchdown on October 1, 2017, in a loss to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

. This game coincided with his 23rd birthday. Overall, in his rookie season, he finished with 476 rushing yards to go along with 34 receptions for 193 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. Gallman scored his first rushing touchdown in Week 17 against 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 divis ...

on a one-yard run. Overall, he finished the 2018 season with 176 rushing yards and rushing touchdown. In Week 4 of the 2019 season against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

, Gallman made his first start of the season due to an injury by Saquon Barkley. In the game, Gallman rushed 18 times for 63 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 55 yards and a touchdown in the 24–3 win. Overall, Gallman finished the 2019 season with 29 carries for 110 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 11 receptions for 102 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. Gallman began the 2020 season as a backup to Barkley, but became the starting running back after Barkley was placed on injured reserve after Week 2. In Week 10 of the 2020 season against the

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 ...

, Gallman rushed 15 times for 53 yards and rushed for a career high two touchdowns in a 27–17 win. In Week 13 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

, Gallman rushed for 135 yards during the 17–12 win. Gallman finished the 2020 season with career highs with 147 carries for 682 yards and 6 touchdowns along with 34 receptions for 193 yards and one receiving touchdown. Gallman became a free agent after the year.

San Francisco 49ers

On April 21, 2021, Gallman signed a one-year contract with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's Nationa ...

. On August 31, 2021, the 49ers released Gallman.

Atlanta Falcons

On September 2, 2021, Gallman signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcon ...

. He was released on December 11, 2021.

Minnesota Vikings

On December 13, 2021, Gallman was claimed off waivers by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Kansas City Chiefs

Gallman signed with the practice squad of the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

on October 12, 2022. He was released on November 29, 2022.

Seattle Seahawks

Gallman signed with the practice squad of the

on December 6, 2022. He was released on December 15, 2022. He was re-signed on December 20, 2022. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 14, 2023.

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bioClemson Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallman, Wayne 1994 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople People from Loganville, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American players of American football American football running backs Clemson Tigers football players Kansas City Chiefs players New York Giants players San Francisco 49ers players Atlanta Falcons players Minnesota Vikings players Seattle Seahawks players