Bernard Scott (born February 10, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

. He was selected by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the sixth round of the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

. 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 ...

at Abilene Christian. His brother Daryl Richardson is also a former NFL running back.

Early life

A native of

Vernon, Texas Vernon is a city and the county seat of Wilbarger County, Texas, United States. and as of the 2010 census had a population of 11,002. History The original town was called Eagle Springs by the indigenous community as early as 1858. After t ...

, Scott had a troubled past. A Class 3A first-team all-state selection as a high school junior in 2001, Scott was kicked off his high school team at Vernon High School because of an off-campus fight after the season. He was not eligible for his senior year, and finally graduated from

Wichita Falls High School Wichita Falls High School (WFHS) was a public school in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) and was one of the district's three high schools up until 2024. Located at 2149 Avenu ...

in 2003.

College career

He went on to attend Central Arkansas University, where he earned

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the ...

Freshman of the Year honors in 2004, but was eventually dismissed from the football team for hitting a coach, along with a few other issues. Scott transferred to

Blinn College Blinn College is a public junior college in Brenham, Texas, with additional campuses in Bryan, Schulenburg, Sealy, and Waller. Brenham is Blinn's original and main campus, with housing and athletics. History Blinn was founded in 1884 as Mi ...

, where he was a first-team

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

All-America after leading the Buccaneers to a 12–0 season and the NJCAA national championship. Scott averaged 154.4 rushing yards per game, and he finished his only junior college season with a junior college-best 1,892 yards and 27 touchdowns. He was also first-team all Southwestern Junior College Football Conference. Rated a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', Scott drew some interest by

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

and

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

, but eventually enrolled at

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Christian research university in Abilene, Texas, United States. It is classified by the Carnegie Foundation as an R2 (High Research Spending and Doctorate Production) institutio ...

in 2007. He had finished runner-up in the voting for the 2007

Harlon Hill Trophy The Harlon Hill Trophy is an award in American college football given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II. The award is named for former University of North Alabama and National Football League player Harl ...

Danny Woodhead Daniel Jacob Henry Woodhead (born January 25, 1985) is an American amateur golfer and former professional football player. He played college football as a running back for the Chadron State Eagles and was signed by the New York Jets of the Nati ...

. In that year, Scott broke the league's single-season rushing record with 2,165 yards and set a pair of NCAA Division II single-season records with 39 total touchdowns and 234 points scored. In 2008, Scott won the Harlon Hill Trophy in a landslide, getting the third-highest vote total in the 23-year history of the trophy.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Scott's NFL prospects were tarnished by his off-the-field issues. Besides his aforementioned trouble in high school and junior college, he was also arrested for some traffic-related misdemeanors, and was put on an 18-month probation for failing to identify himself during a traffic stop in Abilene in the spring of 2007.

Cincinnati Bengals

Scott was selected by the

in the sixth round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Following training camp, Scott made the active roster as a kick returner and as a backup to running back

Cedric Benson Cedric Myron Benson (December 28, 1982 – August 17, 2019) was an American professional football player who spent eight years as a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packe ...

. On November 15, 2009, Scott returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

, which earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. In his first career start, in week 11 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, Scott rushed for 119 yards, including a 61-yard run that was the longest by a Bengal since

Corey Dillon Corey James Dillon (born October 24, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots. He played college fo ...

's 67-yard rush at

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

on September 15, 2002. He also became the first Bengals rookie to rush for 100 yards in a game since Dillon in .

Baltimore Ravens

Scott signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

on October 28, 2013. On December 7, 2013, the Ravens released Scott. On December 10, after a season-ending injury to Brandon Stokley, Scott re-signed with the Ravens.

Toronto Argonauts

On March 3, 2015, Scott signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He retired in May 2015.

References

External links

Toronto Argonauts bioOfficial bio at Cincinnati BengalsOfficial bio at Abilene Christian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Bernard 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Vernon, Texas Players of American football from Texas Wichita Falls High School alumni American football running backs Canadian football running backs Players of Canadian football from Texas Abilene Christian Wildcats football players Blinn Buccaneers football players Central Arkansas Bears football players Cincinnati Bengals players Baltimore Ravens players Toronto Argonauts players 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen