Mike Saunders (born October 3, 1969) is an American former professional

Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete on a field long and wide, attempting to advance a Ball (gridiron football), pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposi ...

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 ...

who played eight seasons in 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 ...

(CFL) for five different teams. He was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the tenth round of the

1992 NFL draft The 1992 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992, at the Marriott M ...

Biography

Saunders was born in

Milton, Wisconsin Milton is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,716 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. History The city was formed as a result of the 1967 merger of the villages of Milton and Milton Junction. In No ...

and attended the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

. He was named CFL All-Star in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

. He retired on May 8, 2000, as the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

second all-time leading rusher with 872 carries for 4,396 yards and 39

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. Over eight CFL seasons, he rushed 1,160 times for 5,780 yards and 39 touchdowns.

References

1969 births Living people American football running backs Players of Canadian football from Wisconsin Canadian football running backs Hamilton Tiger-Cats players Iowa Hawkeyes football players Montreal Alouettes players People from Milton, Wisconsin Players of American football from Wisconsin Saskatchewan Roughriders players San Antonio Texans players Toronto Argonauts players 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1960s-stub