Fred Talley (born November 6, 1980) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 played collegiately for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Fayetteville. The University of Arkans ...

from 1999-2002.

Career

College

Fred Talley was a tailback in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in, and county seat of, Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway system, U.S. highways U.S. Route 80, 80 and U.S. Route 259, 259 converge just north of the Sabi ...

, where he played for Robert Bero, former coach of the Longview High School Lobos, leading his high school team to a state runner-up finish and a #3 national ranking as a junior. Originally signed by the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. It is the Flagship campus, flagship campus of the University of Arkan ...

as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, Talley was later moved to running back where he had a very productive career. As a sophomore in 2000, Talley rushed 768 yards and five touchdowns despite playing in only eight games,"NFL Draft 2003 - Fred Talley."
''

SI.com ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excelle ...

.'' Retrieved September 28, 2013. helping the Razorbacks reach the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, before moving t ...

. He was named Second Team All- SEC by the coaches in 2001 after running for 774 yards and four touchdowns."2008 Arkansas Razorbacks Football Media Guide."
''www.hogwired.com.'' Retrieved November 21, 2013. The Razorbacks later faced the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

in the

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its Cotton Bowl (stadium), namesake ...

, losing 10-3. Talley rushed for 1119 yards as a senior in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Half of Talley's season total was gained during a three-game stretch against Auburn (241 yards),

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

(182 yards), and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

(136 yards)."Arkansas Razorbacks: Fred Talley - RB."
''

'', January 4, 2003. Retrieved September 28, 2013. Talley's rushing yardage against Auburn is the third-highest in school history, behind

Darren McFadden Darren McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks football, Arkansas ...

and Dickey Morton. In the Razorbacks 2002 season finale, Talley rushed for 118 yards and a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. Arkansas won the game, nicknamed the "Miracle on Markham," by a score of 21-20, propelling them to the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. For its first 32 seasons, the championship game pitted the Eastern Division regular season champion again ...

, which they lost to the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

30-3. Talley was also voted First Team All-SEC by the coaches and Second Team by the

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in 2002. For his career, Talley ran for 2661 yards (5.3 avg.) and eleven touchdowns."NFL Draft 2003 - Fred Talley."
''

.'' Retrieved November 21, 2013. He rushed for 100 yards or more in a game eleven times, including two 200-yard games."2007 Arkansas Razorbacks football media guide."
''www.hogwired.com.'' Retrieved November 21, 2013.

Professional career

Talley was not selected in the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

, but 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

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. Talley was released during training camp. Talley also had free agent contracts with 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 ...

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

in 2004 and the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

for the 2005 season, but was released in the pre-season each time."Pre-Season Transactions (June 1-14)."
''www.cfl.ca'', June 15, 2005. Retrieved September 28, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talley, Fred 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Longview, Texas American football running backs Arkansas Razorbacks football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen