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Derrius Guice ( ; born June 21, 1997) 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 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 ...
for the Vegas Knight Hawks 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 ...
(IFL). He played college football at LSU, where he was the first player in
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
(SEC) history with three career games of 250 or more rushing yards before being drafted by 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) ...
in the second round of the
2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first dra ...
. Guice appeared in just five games in two years in the NFL due to multiple knee injuries and was released in 2020 after being charged for crimes related to domestic violence. LSU disassociated itself from Guice and removed all of his statistics from their record books in 2021 amid claims that the school had mishandled accusations of sexual harassment by him during his time there.


Early years

Guice was born to parents Derek and Beulah Guice on June 21, 1997, in a poverty-stricken section of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of count ...
, known as "the Bottom". On May 3, 2003, Derek was killed after being involved in a fight at a
Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some of the locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,700 restaurants in many countries. Description Originally opened as a coffee shop under th ...
restaurant, with Guice learning of it after seeing the scene on the news. As a way to deal with his emotions and not feeling safe at home, Guice focused his life around football, with his powerful running style being described as "running angry". Guice first attended McKinley High School. Due to his mother not liking the culture of McKinley, which she also attended, as well as his talents on the football field, Guice, along with three close friends and fellow football teammates, were given a scholarship to attend the predominantly white and affluent private school Catholic High. Guice would come home crying, Guice begged his mother to allow him to transfer back to McKinley. However, his mother said there was no way he was going to leave the scholarship behind, asking him about how many kids in their neighborhood had the same opportunity he did. As a junior, Guice met Stephanie de la Houssaye, a white guidance counselor at the school. De la Houssaye gravitated toward the three boys, and Guice specifically, because of their struggles at the school and her ability to relate to them, as she had also grown up in poverty. Guice first befriended de la Houssaye after she had taken him home following a gang-related altercation at his house that left Guice unconscious. Over the course of his junior year, Guice began spending more time at the de la Houssaye household, eating dinner with her and her husband and children and going on vacations with them, eventually moving in with them. Catholic administrators had an issue with the close relationship, telling her to limit her guidance to school hours or she would lose her job. De la Houssaye chose to continue personally helping Guice over the job, with her stating that she never regretted the decision. Guice, when speaking about the situation while in college, claimed that the situation reminded him of the 2009 film '' The Blind Side'', in which another black football player is taken in by a white family due to troublesome circumstances at home. As a senior, he rushed for 1,341 yards with 21
touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...
. Catholic went 9–2 on the season and lost 25–23 to New Orleans Brother Martin in the LHSAA Division I quarterfinals at BREC Memorial Stadium, after Guice was stopped on a two-point conversion that would have tied the game. After his senior season, Guice played in the
U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is played between all-star teams representing the eastern and western United S ...
and was awarded the Pete Dawkins Trophy. Guice was rated by Rivals.com as a five-star recruit and was ranked as the second best high school running back at the time, behind Damien Harris. He committed to
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
(LSU) to play college football, fulfilling a promise he made to his father before his death.


College career

Guice spent his true freshman year at LSU in 2015 as a backup to Leonard Fournette. He played in all 12 games, rushing for 436 yards on 51 carries with three touchdowns. Guice entered his sophomore season again as a backup to Fournette. He started his first career game in place of an injured Fournette during the team's second game of the season and ran for 155 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Against the
Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (o ...
on November 12, Guice rushed for 252 yards, which was the second most in a game in school history. The total included a school-record 96-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Two weeks later, against Texas A&M, he set the school single-game record by rushing for 285 yards, breaking the previous mark set by Fournette earlier in the season by one yard. He became only the fourth running back in
Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...
history to record multiple 250-yard rushing performances in a career, following
Bo Jackson Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson (born November 30, 1962) is an American former professional baseball and American football player. He is the only professional athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Jackson's el ...
,
Herschel Walker Herschel Junior Walker (born March 3, 1962) is an American former 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 in Georgia. ...
, and
Moe Williams Maurece Jabari Williams (born July 26, 1974) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL). He formerly played for the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens. He attended the University of Kentucky. High sc ...
. He was named to the
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. n ...
first-team All-SEC team following the regular season. Guice saw limited play in several games in the first half of his junior season due to a left leg injury. In a game against Ole Miss that season, he rushed for 276 yards, becoming the first player in SEC history with three career games of at least 250 rushing yards.


Statistics


Professional career

In January 2018, Guice announced that he would forego his senior year at LSU in favor of the
2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first dra ...
. Guice attended LSU's pro day in April 2018, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Guice was projected to be a first or second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked among the best running backs of the 2018 class. Predicted as a first round pick before the draft, Guice reportedly had his draft stock fall due to questions about his character and other incidents during the drafting process, such as an alleged verbal altercation between himself and Howie Roseman, executive of 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 ...
. Roseman and other Eagles personnel denied it took place, with Guice stating that the incident, as well as other rumors of him being lazy, immature, and dishonest, were not true. Another issue allegedly occurred at the
NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...
, where Guice claimed that he was asked if he liked men during an interview with a team, as well as if his mother "sells herself". The NFL later investigated the claims, but found no proof it had happened.


Washington Redskins

Guice was eventually drafted in the second round, 59th overall, by 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) ...
. On May 10, 2018, Guice signed a four-year, 4.54 million
contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to ...
with the team. In the first preseason game of his rookie year, Guice sustained a torn ACL, which ended his season. Guice made his regular season debut in the opening game of the 2019 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 ...
. There, Guice rushed 10 times for 18 yards and caught 3 passes for 20 yards, but left the game with an injury to his right knee. The Redskins would go on to lose the game 32-27. It was later revealed that Guice had suffered a torn
meniscus Meniscus may refer to: * Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity * Meniscus (liquid), a curve in the upper surface of liquid contained in an object *Meniscus (optics) A lens is a ...
, requiring surgery, with him being placed on injured reserve on September 13, 2019. He was designated for return from injured reserve on October 28, 2019, and began practicing again with the team. He was activated off injured reserve on November 7. In Week 11 against the New York Jets, Guice rushed seven times for 24 yards and caught one pass for a 45-yard touchdown in the 34–17 loss. In Week 13 against the
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...
, Guice rushed 10 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns in the 29–21 win. The following week, he suffered an MCL sprain and was placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2019. Guice was waived by the team on August 7, 2020, following charges of domestic violence. After the charges were dropped in 2021, the NFL suspended Guice at the start of the 2021 season for six games for violating the league's personal conduct policy.


Vegas Knight Hawks

On February 23, 2023, Guice signed with the Vegas Knight Hawks 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 ...
(IFL).


Personal life

Guice was the first athlete to sign with Top Dawg Entertainment's sports division agency, a record label better known for representing musical artists such as
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...
and
Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. In 2009, Hanley signed to Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and in late ...
. Guice is a fan of and often livestreamed
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
s such as the ''
Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football video game series developed by EA Tiburon for EA Sports. It is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden and sold more than 130 ...
'' series and ''
Fortnite Battle Royale ''Fortnite Battle Royale'' is a free-to-play battle royale video game developed and published by Epic Games. It is a companion game to '' Fortnite: Save the World'', a cooperative survival game with construction elements. It was initially r ...
'' during his time with Washington. Following a visit to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in June 2018, Guice set up a
GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...
crowdfunding campaign for cancer research and raised over 21,000 within a week. In November 2016, Guice's brother Derrick was arrested and charged with attempted second degree murder following an incident where he was the driver of two gunmen who shot at a man on his porch in Baton Rouge.


Legal issues

On August 7, 2020, Guice was arrested and charged with counts of strangulation,
assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cri ...
, battery, and destruction of property that stemmed from three separate domestic violence incidents that had taken place at his home in
Loudoun County, Virginia Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...
earlier that year. The felony charge of strangulation was dropped in January 2021, and the four remaining misdemeanor charges were dropped in June 2021 following an undisclosed settlement between Guice and his former girlfriend. The arrest led to him being released by Washington. Later in August 2020, Guice was accused by two women of
sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, whi ...
that occurred during two separate instances while he was a freshman at LSU in 2016. Soon after the rape accusations were made public, another former LSU student announced that she had filed a police report against Guice in 2016 for taking a partially nude photograph of her without her knowledge and sharing it with some of his football teammates, a felony under Louisiana law. Although the incident was reported to both LSU police and LSU's athletic department, Guice was not given any disciplinary action by the university. In March 2021, a 74-year-old woman accused Guice of sexual harassment from an incident at the Superdome in 2017. The following month, LSU announced it had disassociated itself from Guice, banning him from the athletics program indefinitely. It also removed all of Guice's statistics from its record books.


References


External links


College stats
at Sports Reference
LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guice, Derrius 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana American football running backs Catholic High School (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) alumni LSU Tigers football players Washington Redskins players Washington Football Team players