Jaleel R. McLaughlin ( ; born September 13, 2000) is an American 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 ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). 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 ...

for the Notre Dame Falcons and

Youngstown State Penguins The Youngstown State Penguins are the athletic teams of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. The university is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I, and the Penguins compete in football as memb ...

and is the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

's all-time leading rusher.

Early life

McLaughlin was born on September 13, 2000, and is a native of

Marshville, North Carolina Marshville is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 2,402 at the 2010 census. Marshville is known as the birthplace of country music singer Randy Travis. Geography According to the United States Census Bur ...

. One of four children, he was raised by his mother and battled poverty and homelessness growing up. He also played several sports starting at a young age, including

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and track. When McLaughlin was in middle school, his mother lost her job and they lived in various places for short periods of time, switching between hotels, motels and relatives' houses. Shortly after, his cousin and role model died of a brain tumor and his grandmother died from a heart attack. McLaughlin had been living in his grandmother's house at the time and lost it when she died, so he lived for several months with his mother and siblings in a car parked outside a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

. McLaughlin and his family moved in with a relative after several months of homelessness and he then entered Forest Hills High School. At Forest Hills, McLaughlin competed in track, football and basketball. He helped the basketball team win the state championship and earned several championships in track, placing second place in the

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

at the state championships, as well as third in the 200, also being a member of the winning

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

and

4 × 200 metres relay The 4 × 200 metres relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 200 metres or half a lap on a standard 400 metre track. The event is a world record eligible event, but is not a standard event at most pr ...

teams. These were the first track championships in school history. In football, he totaled 1,401 rushing yards on 167 attempts with 16

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 ...

s in just 12 games, averaging over eight yards per carry. Despite his performance, McLaughlin received no offers to play

from

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

teams, with the only interest coming from teams in Division II. Additionally, the majority of teams that were interested in him only wanted him to play

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 ...

due to his small size (5 ft 7 in). He ultimately committed to play for the Notre Dame Falcons, one of the few schools which said they would allow him to play

College career

In his debut for the Notre Dame College Falcons, the

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

McLaughlin ran for a school-record 302 rushing yards, also the all-time Division II record for most yards by a player in his first game. Several weeks later, he managed to break the record again by posting 340 yards and three touchdowns against West Liberty, even though he played just three quarters. By the fifth game of the season, he was the leading Division II rusher with 1,091 yards, nine touchdowns and an average of 9.3 yards per carry. He finished the year with 2,421 rushing yards on 378 carries with 19 touchdowns, leading all of the NCAA in that category while also leading Division II with 2,699

all-purpose yards All-purpose yards or all-purpose yardage is a gridiron football statistical measure. It is virtually the same as the statistic that some football leagues refer to as combined net yards. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing ...

. McLaughlin was named a first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, the first true freshman ever to win the honor for Notre Dame College, and placed third in voting for the

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 ...

as top Division II player. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

, McLaughlin led Division II in rushing, scoring and yards with an NCAA-leading 2,316 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns. He was the runner-up for the Harlon Hill Trophy, was an All-American, and was named the male athlete of the year in his conference. He transferred to play with the FCS

for his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

season. He finished his stint at Notre Dame College with 4,737 rushing yards and 52 touchdowns. In his first year at Youngstown State, the spring 2021 season (postponed from 2020 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

), McLaughlin earned second-team All-

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the National Collegiate A ...

(MVFC) honors while running for 691 yards and five scores in seven games. In the fall season, he ran for 1,139 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning first-team All-MVFC and third-team All-American honors. McLaughlin totaled 1,588 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in his final year, 2022, averaging over seven yards per carry. Entering the second-to-last game of his college career, he needed 219 rushing yards to set the all-time college football record, and he did it by going for 227 yards against Missouri State. He entered the

NFL draft The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

after the season, and finished his career as college football's all-time leading rusher, breaking the record that was held by Nate Kmic, with 8,166 yards on 1,250 attempts with 79 touchdowns, averaging 6.5 yards per carry.

Professional career

Despite his college performance, McLaughlin went unselected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

. Afterwards, he was signed by the

as an

undrafted 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 ...

. He made the team's final roster. He scored his first career touchdown on a five-yard rush against the

Washington Commanders 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) East division ...

in week 2. In week 4, he ran for 72 yards, averaging 10.3 yards-per-carry, and caught all three targets for 32 yards and a touchdown, being given the game ball afterwards. As a rookie, he appeared in all 17 games and made three starts. He finished the 2023 season with 76 carries for 410 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go with 31 receptions for 160 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

References

External links

Denver Broncos bioYoungstown State Penguins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Jaleel 2000 births Living people American football running backs American homeless people Players of American football from Union County, North Carolina People from Marshville, North Carolina Notre Dame Falcons football players Youngstown State Penguins football players Denver Broncos players