Marlon Lucky (born February 28, 1986) 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 ...

player who was a

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 ...

in 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

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

nand was signed 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 ...

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 ...

in 2009.

Early life

Lucky lived in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

through seventh grade before moving to

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He attended

North Hollywood High School North Hollywood High School (NHHS) is a public high school in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is in the San Fernando Valley and enrolls approximately 2,500 students. Several neighborhoods, including m ...

, leaving with 4,881 rushing yards and 88 touchdowns, including 2,036 yards and 40 touchdowns in his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year. His performance earned him selection as the most valuable player in his league and first-team CalHi Sports all-state honors. In 2009 Lucky returned to North Hollywood High School and talked to the former JV football players.

College career

Coming out of high school, Lucky was one of the nation's most sought-after prospects in 2005.

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ranked him as the second best running back in the country. He ultimately decided to play for

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, over

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

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, and others. During his

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 ...

season, he was a backup to senior Cory Ross, rushing for only 129 yards on 43 carries. Most of his success came on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. During his sophomore season in 2006, Lucky was part of Nebraska's four-man rotation at I-back that helped rush for 2,400 yards and 26 touchdowns. He finished the season with 728 rushing yards, 383 receiving yards, and 6 rushing touchdowns, earning Second-team All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

honors. In 2007, as a junior, Lucky became the Cornhuskers' main back, rushing for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns while also catching a school-record 75 passes for 705 yards and three touchdowns. Lucky considered entering the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

, but ultimately decided against it. As a senior in 2008, Lucky battled through injuries finishing with only 517 yards on 125 carries, 26 receptions for 288 yards and eight total touchdowns. He finished his college career with 2,393 rushing yards on 515 carries and 22 touchdowns. He also added 1,379 receiving yards on 135 receptions and four touchdowns. After the 2008 regular season ended, Lucky played in the

2009 Gator Bowl The 2009 Gator Bowl was played on January 1, 2009, as part of the 2008 College Football season. It featured the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who finished tied for first in the Big 12 Conference's North Division with Missouri, and the Clemson Tigers, wh ...

and the

2009 East–West Shrine Game The 2009 East–West Shrine Game was the 84th staging of the all-star college football exhibition game featuring NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision players. The game featured over 100 players from the 2008 college football season, and pros ...

; he was the offensive MVP of the latter game.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Lucky was signed by the

as an

in 2009. He was waived on August 22.

New York Sentinels

Lucky was signed by the

New York Sentinels New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

of the United Football League on November 7, 2009. He tried out for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

shortly after 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 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

Omaha Nighthawks

Lucky was signed by the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League (2009–2012), United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010 UFL season, 2010. During ...

on July 15, 2011.

References

External links

Stats Crew profileCincinnati Bengals bioNebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucky, Marlon 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas Players of American football from Los Angeles American football running backs Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Cincinnati Bengals players New York Sentinels players Omaha Nighthawks players Omaha Beef players Lincoln Haymakers players Sioux City Bandits players North Hollywood High School alumni