Darius Marshall (born February 21, 1989) 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 wit ...

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. The ...

. He was a member of the

New Mexico Stars The New Mexico Stars were a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The Stars played their home games at the Santa Ana Star Center. They began play in the Indoor Football League (IFL) during the 2012 season as an expa ...

. Marshall played college football for the

Marshall Thundering Herd The Marshall Thundering Herd is the intercollegiate athletic collection of teams that collectively represent the Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Thundering Herd athletic teams compete in the Sun Belt Conference, which are membe ...

Early life

Darius Marshall was an all-state selection in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

in 2005, after rushing for 2,300 yards and 30 touchdowns at Baldwin High School. He earned his consecutive all-state selection in 2006 by rushing for 2,153 yards and 28 touchdowns. Marshall totaled 74 touchdowns in his prep career and was rated one of the Top 50 players in Georgia. Marshall was recruited by

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the Flagship un ...

, and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

. Marshall eventually signed with Marshall.

Collegiate career

Freshman season (2007)

Darius Marshall began his freshman season in the 31-3 loss to

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with three rushes for 14 yards and five receptions for 17 yards. Marshall saw his first major action in the 48-23 loss to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

, where he rushed for 80 yards on 11 carries and returned the opening kickoff 77 yards. In the 48-25 loss to

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, Marshall only totaled 29 yards on 7 carries. In the 40-14 loss to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...

, he recorded 63 yards on seven carries and a reception for 11 yards. In the 24-21 loss to

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, Marshall scored his first collegiate rushing touchdown and totaled a season-high 90 yards on 15 carries. In the 38-31 loss to the

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, Marshall rushed 13 times for 63 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards. In the loss to

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to a ...

, he rushed 14 times for 62 yards and a touchdown and had a reception for 13 yards. In the first victory of the season, 34-21 over

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 domestica ...

, Marshall totaled 39 yards on 16 carries. Marshall missed most of the loss to UCF, but bounced back in the ECU victory with 67 yards on 12 carries. In the following loss to

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Marshall recorded 12 carries for 66 yards. He finished out the season with 60 yards on 9 carries, a 91-yard kick return touchdown, and a 32-yard reception in the 46-39 victory over UAB. Darius Marshall finished his true freshman season of 2007 with 631 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns in only 123 carries in nine starts. He also caught 14 passes for 119 yards and returned 19 kicks for 556 yards and a touchdown. He led the team with 1,306 all-purpose yards and 108.8 per game en route to being named to the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

All-Freshman Team.

Sophomore season (2008)

In 2008, Darius Marshall entered the season as the Thundering Herd's starting running back as a sophomore. In the 35-10 season-opening victory over

Illinois State Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of th ...

, Marshall rushed 20 times for 115 yards and a touchdown. The game marked the sophomore's first career 100-yard rushing game. In the 51-14 loss to the #11

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin). They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level (NCAA Di ...

, Marshall totaled 50 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. In the 17-16 victory over

, Marshall rushed for a career-high 140 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown. In the following 34-27 victory over

, he recorded 112 yards on 30 carries for a touchdown. The game marked the first back-to-back 100-yard rushing games by Marshall in his career. In the 27-3 loss to

in the

Friends of Coal Bowl The Friends of Coal Bowl is the name given to the Marshall–West Virginia football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry game played by the Marshall Thundering Herd football team of Marshall University and the West Virginia Moun ...

, Marshall totaled 45 yards on 16 carries and a career-high 203 return yards on only 4 kick returns, including a 75-yard return. Marshall finished the rivalry game with a career-high 262 total yards of offense. In the 33-10 loss to

, Marshall rushed 14 times for 19 yards, a reception for 10 yards, and 5 kick returns for 92 yards. In the following 23-21 loss to UAB, Marshall rushed 9 times for 35 yards, had two receptions for 14 yards, and had 3 kick returns for 80 yards. Marshall bounced back in the following 37-23 win over

, totaling 15 rushes for 102 yards and a touchdown and 63 yards on three kick returns - 165 total yards. He then totaled 123 yards on 20 carries and 88 yards on two kick returns for a total of 201 yards in the next loss to ECU. Marshall then had a season-high 142 yards rushing on 16 carries, to go along with 63 yards on 3 kick returns, in the 30-14 loss to

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the ...

. The game marked his second straight 200-yard all-purpose game and his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game. Marshall's 100-yard rushing streak continued in the loss to

, in which he gained 118 yards rushing on 24 carries. He also recorded 62 yards on 4 kick returns for a total of 180 yards all-purpose yards. His 100-yard rushing game streak ended at four games against

- finishing with 94 yards rushing on 18 carries. Darius Marshall finished his sophomore campaign with 224 rushes for 1,099 yards and 5 touchdowns, 16 receptions for 98 yards, and 30 kick returns for 790 yards - a total of 1,987 all-purpose yards (165.2 yards per game).

College statistics

Professional career

NFL Draft

On January 11, 2010,

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college football writer

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reported that Marshall would forgo his senior season and declare himself eligible for 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 fir ...

. Marshall departs with the seventh-best career rushing total (2,857 yards) in Thundering Herd history. Despite having 1,131 yards and 11 touchdowns in his junior season, Marshall was projected to be a late round pick.

New Mexico Stars

In 2012, Marshall signed with the

of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

. He was released in April after an altercation.

Legal Troubles

In May 2009, Darius Marshall was suspended for the 2009 season opener after being arrested on drug charges with former Thundering Herd teammate DeQuan Bembry. Initially they were charged with possession with intent to deliver, an officer at Western Regional Jail said they both were being held there on $20,000 bond. At a preliminary hearing, later in the month, the felony charges against the Marshall and Bembry were dropped and replaced with misdemeanor marijuana possession of under 15 grams. In April 2012, Marshall was again in trouble with the law, as he was arrested and charged with assault after an altercation that took place after an

game between the

and the

Wyoming Cavalry The Wyoming Cavalry were an American professional indoor football team based in Casper, Wyoming. They were most recently members of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Cavalry began play in 2000 as an expansion member ...

References

External links

ESPN Player Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Darius 1989 births Living people American football running backs African-American players of American football Marshall Thundering Herd football players People from Milledgeville, Georgia New Mexico Stars players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people