Darrin Milo Nelson (born January 2, 1959) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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)#Offense ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

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

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Stanford Cardinals, earning second-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1978.

Early life

Nelson attended Pius X High School. He accepted a football scholarship from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

to play under head coach Bill Walsh. In his first year at Stanford in 1977, he was named the starter and became the first freshman

in conference history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He registered 183 carries for 1,069 yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 50 receptions for 524 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. As a sophomore in 1978, he posted 167 carries for 1,061 yards, 6 rushing touchdowns, 50 receptions for 446 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. In 1979, he was lost for the season with a hamstring injury. As a junior in 1980, he had 161 carries for 889 yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 47 receptions for 552 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. As a senior in 1981, he collected 192 carries for 1,014 yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, 67 receptions for 846 yards and 5 receiving touchdowns. Nelson was a dual threat as a rusher and receiver, becoming the first player in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

history to rush for more than 1,000 yards and catch more than 50 passes in one season. He accomplished this feat three times. He finished his college career with the school records for rushing yards (4,033), receptions (214), touchdowns (40), scoring (242 points), while also setting the NCAA record with 6,885 career all-purpose yards. He was inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was inducted into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive Tourist attraction, attraction devoted to college football, college American football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players ...

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings (first stint)

Nelson was selected by the

in the first round (7th overall) of the 1982 NFL draft. As a rookie, he experienced a strike-shortened season that was reduced to 9 games, finishing second on the team to Ted Brown with 136 rushing yards. As a

, Nelson was a threat as both a runner and as receiver out of the backfield, though he is perhaps best known for dropping the game-tying touchdown on 4th down in the closing moments of the 1987 NFC Championship Game. In 1988, he missed three games with an injury. In 1989, he staged an acrimonious contract holdout and lost his starting position to D.J. Dozier. On October 12, Nelson was traded to 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

as part of the

Herschel Walker Trade The Herschel Walker trade was the largest player trade in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The deal, completed on October 12, 1989, centered on sending running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikin ...

. At the time he had appeared in 5 games as a backup, registering 67 carries for 321 yards and 38 receptions for 380 yards.

San Diego Chargers

On October 17, 1989, after refusing to report to Dallas, he was traded to the

in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#116-Reggie Thornton) as part of the

Herschel Walker trade The Herschel Walker trade was the largest player trade in the history of the National Football League (NFL). The deal, completed on October 12, 1989, centered on sending running back Herschel Walker from the Dallas Cowboys to the Minnesota Vikin ...

. He was the third-string running back behind Marion Butts and Tim Spencer. On September 3, 1990, he was released and later re-signed. He was the fourth-string running back during that season.

Minnesota Vikings (second stint)

In 1991, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by the

. He was a backup

behind

Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He was also the Republican nominee in the 2022 United States Senate election ...

and Terry Allen and was also the team's kickoff returner for two seasons. On August 30, 1992, he was released and later re-signed. He announced his retirement on June 30, 1993. For his career, Nelson rushed for 4,442 yards, caught 286 passes for 2,559 yards and scored 23 touchdowns (18 rushing and 5 receiving) in 152 games.

Career stats

Personal life

Nelson spent 15 years in the administration at

. In 2011, Nelson became the Senior Associate Athletic Director for the University of California Irvine.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Darren 1959 births Living people American football return specialists American football running backs Minnesota Vikings players San Diego Chargers players Stanford Cardinal football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Players of American football from Downey, California Players of American football from Sacramento, California