Tobin Bo Gunnar Gerhart (born March 28, 1987) 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 with ...

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)#Offen ...

. He was selected 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 expansion ...

in the second round of the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the firs ...

. 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 rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and was a unanimous All-American. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Gerhart won the

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football Le ...

and was the runner-up for the 2009

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. He received 1,276 points in the Heisman voting, coming in second to

Mark Ingram II Mark Valentino Ingram II (born December 21, 1989) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the first Alabama player to win the Heis ...

, who received 1,304 points; the 28-point margin was the closest vote in Heisman history. Gerhart had a breakout senior season in 2009, leading all running backs in the nation in rushing yards, touchdowns, and points scored, and setting several Pac-10 and school

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

. He held the Stanford record for most rushing yards in a season (1,871) until

Christian McCaffrey Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers eighth overa ...

broke it in 2015, and still holds Cardinal records for touchdowns in a season (28) and most touchdowns in a career (44).

Early years

Gerhart was born in

Norco, California Norco is a city in Riverside County, California, in the United States. Norco is known as Horsetown, USA and prides itself on being a "horse community," with horse trails, hitching posts, and corrals, and city ordinances requiring construction to ...

. He had a record-breaking career at running back for

Norco High School Norco High School is California Distinguished School comprehensive public high school serving over 2,000 students from grades 9-12 in Norco, California, United States. It is part of the Corona-Norco Unified School District. The current principal ...

. He set a California state record for rushing yards with 9,662 yards in his career. As of December 2009, Gerhart holds the third highest career total of running yards in national

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, part ...

history. He led Norco High School to the CIF Division 5 Southern Section football championship on December 9, 2005. Gerhart was named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year for the state of California and was named California's Mr. Football by Cal-Hi Sports. Gerhart also played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and graduated as a

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of his high school class.

College career

Gerhart's high school statistics garnered him interest from many top

programs. He ultimately committed to

, where he played for the Stanford Cardinal football team from 2006 to 2009.

2006 season

In his freshman year, Gerhart backed up Anthony Kimble at the halfback position, starting one game. He rushed for 375 yards for the season, as Stanford struggled to a 1-11 record.

2007 season

In 2007, Gerhart played in only one game, against

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, in which he rushed for 140 yards and one touchdown before suffering a season-ending knee injury. StanfordCardinal-CalBears-2008-Gerhart-Run

2008 season

In 2008, Gerhart had a breakout season under the direction of then-running backs coach

Willie Taggart Willie Author Taggart (born August 27, 1976) is an American football college coach. He has held the head coach position at five NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs: Western Kentucky (2009 to 2012 seasons); South Florida (2013 to ...

. He set the Stanford single-season rushing record with 1,136 yards, breaking Tommy Vardell's school record of 1,084 yards. Gerhart was the fifth player in Stanford history to run for 1,000 yards or more in a season, after

Darrin Nelson Darrin Milo Nelson (born January 2, 1959) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Stanford University. Early years Nelson att ...

Brad Muster Bradley William Muster (born April 11, 1965) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Stanford. He was selected in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. College career Muster atten ...

Jon Volpe Jon Volpe is a former running back in the Canadian Football League. Early life Volpe had a difficult childhood. His father left when he was 5 years old, his mother was an alcoholic and lived on the street, and his brother went to jail several tim ...

, and Vardell. He scored 15 rushing touchdowns, then the second highest single season total in Stanford history. His eight games with 100 or more rushing yards were a Stanford record. He tied a Stanford record with four rushing touchdowns against Washington State. Gerhart averaged 5.4 yards per carry and finished third in the Pac-10 in rushing.

2009 season

In 2009, Gerhart had 1,871 rushing yards and 28 rushing touchdowns. Gerhart led the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards (1,871), rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (28), and points scored (172 points). His 3,522 career rushing yards are the third most in Stanford history, behind Darrin Nelson's 4,033 yards and Stepfan Taylor's 4,300 yards. Gerhart rushed for over 100 yards in 11 of his 13 games in 2009. On September 26, 2009, he became only the sixth person in Stanford history to rush for 200 yards in a game, with 200 yards on 27 carries against

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. On November 7, 2009, Gerhart recorded his second 200-yard game of the season, running for 223 yards against the 7th-ranked

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

, breaking the Stanford single-game rushing record previously held by Jon Volpe. On November 28, Gerhart ran for 205 yards and three rushing touchdowns in a 45-38 win over Notre Dame. This was his third 200-yard game of the season. Gerhart again tied the school record for rushing touchdowns in a game by running for four touchdowns against Cal. Gerhart also threw one pass in 2009, completing it for an 18-yard touchdown against Notre Dame. Gerhart helped lead Stanford to an 8-5 record and its first bowl berth in eight years. He finished the season first in Division 1A in rushing yards (1,871) and rushing touchdowns (28). Gerhart was a consensus 2009 First-team

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

selection. He was named the 2009 Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. He was one of five finalists for the 2009 Heisman Trophy and finished in second place behind

by 28 points, the slimmest margin in the trophy's 74-year history. Gerhart is the winner of the 2009 Doak Walker Award as the best running back in the nation and of the

Jim Brown Trophy The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More ...

presented to the top running back in college football by the

Touchdown Club of Columbus The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More t ...

. Gerhart won the Touchdown Club of Columbus'

Archie Griffin Award The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor Jim Rhodes, James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1 ...

, which is awarded after the completion of the bowl games to college football's MVP for the season. Gerhart was a starting

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

baseball team Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

. He passed up the opportunity to play professional baseball after the 2009 season to return for his senior year at Stanford. Gerhart majored in Management Science and Engineering.

College statistics

Awards and honors

* 2009 Unanimous first-team All-American (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA),

Walter Camp Football Foundation The Walter Camp Football Foundation (WCFF) is one of the organizations whose College Football All-America Team is recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization also presents various awards. It is named in honor of foo ...

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

Sporting News The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...

) * 2009

* 2009

* 2009 National Offensive Player of the Year (CBSSports.com) * 2009

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

Offensive Player of the Year * 2009 First-team All-

* 2009 First-team Pac-10 All-Academic Team *

Offensive Player of the Week, four times (October 11, 2008; November 7, 2009; November 14, 2009; November 28, 2009) * 2009 Tom Hansen Conference Medal * 2008 Second-team All-

* 2008 Second-team Pac-10 All-Academic Team * 2005 California Mr. Football, Cal-Hi Sports * 2005 Gatorade California Player of the Year * 2005

Glenn Davis Award The Glenn Davis Award is given annually since 1987 by the ''Los Angeles Times'' to the best high school football player in the Los Angeles area. It is named after Glenn Davis, the 1946 Heisman Trophy winner, who prepped at Bonita High School in L ...

Records

Pac-12 records *Most rushing touchdowns in a season (28) in 2009 *Most total touchdowns in a season (28) in 2009 *Most points scored in a season (172) in 2009 Stanford career records *Most career touchdowns (44) *Most career rushing touchdowns (44) *Most career 100 yard rushing games (20) *Most career 200 yard rushing games (3) (tied) Stanford single season records (2009) *Most rushing yards in a season (1,871) *Most rushing touchdowns in a season (28) *Most total touchdowns in a season (28) *Most points scored in a season (172) *Most yards from scrimmage in a season (2,028) *Most 100 yard rushing games in a season (11) *Most 200 yard rushing games in a season (3) *Most consecutive 100 yard rushing games (7) Stanford single game records *Most rushing touchdowns in a game (4) (twice) (tied)

Professional career

Baseball

Gerhart was offered a lucrative contract to play baseball after the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft in June, but opted to play football during the 2009 college football season.

Football

Pre-Draft

Due to his knee injury in 2007, he had a potential additional year of college football eligibility. He chose to forgo this additional year and entered the 2010 NFL Draft.

Minnesota Vikings

Gerhart had the highest

Wonderlic The Wonderlic Contemporary Cognitive Ability Test (formerly Wonderlic Personnel Test) is an assessment used to measure the cognitive ability and problem-solving aptitude of prospective employees for a range of occupations. It is a proprietary ...

score among running backs with 30. Gerhart was selected in the second round of the

, the 51st overall selection by the

. A four-year contract was signed on July 30, and Gerhart's first career NFL rushing touchdown came in a win 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) N ...

on November 28, 2010. Gerhart started five games for the Vikings during the 2011 regular season and rushed for 531 yards.

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 11, 2014, Gerhart signed a three-year, $10.5 million contract with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. The deal included $4.5 million guaranteed. On December 5, 2015, the

placed Gerhart on injured reserve. He was released by the team on March 10, 2016.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Gerhart's father,

Todd Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

, was a running back at

Cal State Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

, played in the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, and coached him in high school. Toby is the oldest of six children, all of whom are former collegiate athletes. His brother

Garth Garth may refer to: Places * Garth, Alberta, Canada * Garth, Bridgend, a village in south Wales :* Garth railway station (Bridgend) * Garth, Ceredigion, small village in Wales * Garth, Powys, a village in mid Wales :* Garth railway station (Powy ...

played at

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

and was an offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns, while his three sisters (who are triplets) played softball: Kelsey and Teagan played at Stanford, and Whitley played at Cal Poly. Gerhart's youngest brother Coltin played at Arizona State and

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

. Gerhart returned to Stanford in 2018 for the

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

program, graduating in 2020. He currently works in sales for

Asurion Asurion, LLC is a privately held company based in Nashville, Tennessee, that provides insurance for smartphones, tablets, consumer electronics, appliances, satellite receivers and jewelry. In 2014, the company operated in 14 countries and had 4 ...

, an insurance company based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

that owns the

UBreakiFix uBreakiFix is an American chain of electronic repair shops, founded in 2009 with over 832 locations in 2016 across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. They are most commonly known for repairing all kinds of household electronics. In Aug ...

technology repair shop franchise.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal football bio

Jacksonville Jaguars bio
*
Stats
at

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhart, Toby 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Riverside County, California Players of American football from California Stanford Cardinal baseball players Stanford Cardinal football players All-American college football players American football running backs Minnesota Vikings players Jacksonville Jaguars players People from Norco, California