Reuben Droughns (; born August 21, 1978) 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

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(NFL). After playing

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for the

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, he was selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the third round of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Theat ...

. During his nine years playing professional football, Droughns was also a member of the

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

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 ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, and

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

of the

(NFL). He earned a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

with the Giants in their

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

victory against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. Following his playing career, Droughns worked as an assistant coach for the Serbian team Vukovi Beograd, the two-time champions of the Central European Football League (CEFL) from 2010 to 2013.

Early life

Born in Chicago, Droughns moved from the Midwest to

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

where he attended Anaheim High School (

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

) and was a student and a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and wrestling. In football, he rushed for 49 touchdowns and 4,915 yards, which ranked as the second-most yards gained in Orange County high school football history when he ended his prep career. He was voted All-Orange County and All-CIF twice and All-Orange League three times, including Back of the Year honors as a senior. Droughns was also an accomplished wrestler, winning the CIF-Southern Section title in 1996 (Division I - 189 pounds) during his senior year.

College career

Droughns played

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 1998 and 1999 and was a two-year starter. In his first game for the

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

, he ran for 202 yards and two scores in a 48–14 rout of

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

. Although he missed one game and most of another due to an ankle injury, he would run for 214 yards and three touchdowns in a 63–28 blowout win over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and then 217 yards and three scores on the road against

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. One of his most impressive performances came at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where he ran for 172 yards and a score despite fracturing his right

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

late in the contest (a 41–38 overtime loss), an injury that would force him to miss the rest of the season. Despite the injury, Droughns was still named second team All-Pac-10 for his junior season. Droughns had 1,234 yards and nine touchdowns on 277 carries (4.5) as a senior, including rushing for over 200 yards in three contests, and was a first-team All-Pac-10 choice as a senior. Droughns was a history major at Oregon. At Merced Junior College, he was a first team JUCO

All-America 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 ...

selection as a sophomore after leading the nation in yards in 1997 with 1,611 while also scoring 13 touchdowns and leading the state of California in all-purpose yardage with 1,984 despite missing three games with a broken hand. Prep Star Magazine deemed him the nation's top JUCO running back after that campaign. Droughns was also an honorable mention All-American as a freshman, when he led the Blue Devils in rushing with 1,456 yards and 14 TDs.

Professional career

Detroit Lions

2000 season

Droughns was selected by the

in the third round (81st pick overall) of the

. Droughns spent the 2000 season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

after separating his right shoulder on his first carry in Detroit's opening preseason game against the

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

on August 4, then placed on injured reserve August 22.

2001 season

During the 2001 season, he played in nine games and started three for the Lions, rushing for 72 yards on 30 carries (2.4) and catching four passes for 21 yards (5.3) and a touchdown. He was waived by Detroit after Week 1 and was signed to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on September 18 before being re-signed by the Lions on October 9.

Denver Broncos

2002-2004 seasons

Droughns played for the

for three seasons from 2002 to 2004. Although originally intended to be a fullback, he became the Broncos' starting running back in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Starting 15 out of 16 games, Droughns ultimately rushed for 1,240 yards and six touchdowns. He also tied a playoff franchise record by returning six kickoffs in the wildcard loss to Indianapolis, January 4, 2004. Despite this production, Droughns was not guaranteed the starting job for the 2005 season, so he asked for a trade.

Cleveland Browns

2005-2006 seasons

Droughns was traded to the

on March 30, 2005, for defensive linemen Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

he ran for 1,232 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first Browns player to gain 1,000 yards rushing in a season since Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack both achieved the feat in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

. The following

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Droughns rushed for 758 yards and four touchdowns.

New York Giants

2007-2008 seasons

On March 9, 2007, Droughns was traded to the

in exchange for

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Tim Carter. Playing behind starter

Brandon Jacobs Brandon Christopher Jacobs (born July 6, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New York Giants. He played college football for the Auburn Tig ...

, Droughns battled Derrick Ward for the back-up job but became the third running back for the Giants as part of a rotation that replaced the retired

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber Sr. (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 10-year career as a running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college fo ...

. However, due to his poor performances throughout the year, he dropped to fourth on the Giants depth chart behind rookie Ahmad Bradshaw, and was replaced by Domenik Hixon as kick returner after similar special-teams performances. Though he only started one game during the season, Droughns finished as the Giants third-leading rusher, totaling 275 yards on 85 carries and seven receptions for 49 yards. He was however, primarily used as a goal-line/third down back for most of the regular season, recording a team-leading six rushing

touchdowns 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 ...

for the season. In what would turn out to be his final NFL touchdown, Droughns scored on a 2-yard run with 1:37 remaining for the winning points in a 21-16 victory on the road against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

, which proved to be critical in helping the Giants advance to the postseasons. During the playoffs, Droughns played primarily on special teams and participated in all four of New York's playoff victories, including the Giants' 17-14 upset victory over the

, where he was on the field for the game's final play. In 2008 preseason, the emergence of D.J. Ware dropped Droughns to fifth on the Giants depth chart at running back, but he managed to make the final 53-man roster playing primarily on special teams in 12 of New York's 16 games. Droughns was released by the Giants on February 9, 2009.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

New York Giants biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Droughns, Reuben 1978 births Living people American football fullbacks Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players Detroit Lions players Merced Blue Devils football players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Oregon Ducks football players Players of American football from Chicago Players of American football from Anaheim, California African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Coaches of American football from California