Stevan Todd Ridley (born January 27, 1989) 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 LSU Tigers and was selected by 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 ...

in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft. Ridley was also a member of 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 ...

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 ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

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 ...

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 ...

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

and

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 ...

. With the Patriots, he won

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

Early life

Ridley was born in

Natchez, Mississippi Natchez ( ) is the only city in and the county seat of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 14,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia, Louisiana, Natchez was ...

. He attended Trinity Episcopal Day School in Natchez, where he played running back and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the Trinity Episcopal Saints

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team. As a senior in 2006, he rushed for 3,086 yards and 38 touchdowns. He also competed in track, recording personal-bests of 11.25 seconds in the 100 meters and 23.42 seconds in the 200 meters.

College career

While at LSU, Ridley played from 2008 to 2010. As a freshman, he rushed for 12 times for 92 yards and a rushing touchdown. As a sophomore, he rushed 45 times for 180 yards and three rushing touchdowns. He rushed 249 times for a career-high of 1,147 yards and 15 touchdowns in the 2010 season while also serving as permanent team captain.

College statistics

Professional career

New England Patriots

2011 season

Ridley was selected in the third round of the 2011 NFL draft with the 73rd overall pick by the

, a round after the Patriots drafted another running back, Shane Vereen, with the 56th overall pick. Ridley scored his first NFL touchdown in Week 4 of his rookie season, in the Patriots' 31–19 win over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

; he had 97 yards on 10 carries (for an average of 9.7 yards per carry), including a 33-yard touchdown run, and a three-yard reception. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 87 carries for 441 yards and a touchdown.

2012 season

In the regular season opener, Ridley had his best game of his early career in a 34–13 win over the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. He had 125 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, and also grabbed three catches out of the backfield for 27 yards. In Week 5, he topped his Week 1 performance with 151 yards rushing, with one touchdown, against the

. In his second year, he proved to be a dependable running back in the NFL after racking up 1,263 total yards on 290 carries, while scoring 12 rushing touchdowns during the regular season. His 82 first down rushes ranked third in the league among all NFL running backs. During the AFC Championship against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

on January 20, 2013, Ridley suffered a concussion after a head-to-head collision with Bernard Pollard, which also resulted in a fumble and a turnover. The Patriots lost to the Ravens by a score of 13–28.

2013 season

In the regular season opener, Ridley was benched in the second half of the game after losing a fumble. Ridley carried the ball nine times for 46 yards in the 23–21 win over the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. After losing fumbles in three straight games, Ridley was a healthy scratch in the Patriots' Week 13 34–31 win over the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

. Plagued by the fumbling issues, Ridley lost significant playing time to LeGarrette Blount in his 2013 campaign, and finished the regular season with 178 carries for 773 yards with seven touchdowns. He also had 10 catches for 62 yards on the season, the most in his career. In the 2013–14 NFL playoffs, Ridley recorded his first career postseason multi-touchdown performance, rushing 14 times for 52 yards and two touchdowns in the Patriots' 43–22 Divisional Round win over the

2014 season

Ridley had his longest rush (43 yards) in his career on October 5 against 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 ...

. During a Week 6 37–22 win against the

, Ridley tore his

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

and

medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament (MCL), also called the superficial medial collateral ligament (sMCL) or tibial collateral ligament (TCL), is one of the major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial (inner) side of the knee joint and occurs in ...

, which ended his season. Overall, he finished the 2014 season with 94 carries for 340 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Despite being on injured reserve, Ridley was a part of the Patriots

team that defeated the defending champion Seattle Seahawks 28–24.

New York Jets

Ridley was signed by the

on April 13, 2015. During the 2015 season, Ridley played in eight games for the Jets, including one start, after missing the first half of the season due to a knee injury. He finished the season with 36 carries for 90 yards.

Detroit Lions

On April 5, 2016, Ridley signed a one-year contract with the

. On August 25, 2016, Ridley was released by the Lions.

Indianapolis Colts

On August 28, 2016, Ridley signed with the

. He was released by the team one week later on September 3.

Atlanta Falcons

On October 25, 2016, Ridley was signed by the

. On November 3, he appeared in a game against the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and had three carries for seven yards. He was released by the team on November 23, 2016.

Denver Broncos

On July 27, 2017, Ridley was signed by the

. He was released on September 2, 2017.

Minnesota Vikings

On October 5, 2017, Ridley signed with the

after a season-ending injury to rookie Dalvin Cook. On October 9, 2017, he was released by the Vikings.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On December 19, 2017, Ridley signed with the

. He appeared in two games in the regular season for the Steelers and had 108 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. On April 4, 2018, Ridley re-signed with the Steelers. He totaled 29 carries for 80 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 2018 season.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Stevan 1989 births Living people Players of American football from Natchez, Mississippi American football running backs LSU Tigers football players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Detroit Lions players Indianapolis Colts players Atlanta Falcons players Denver Broncos players Minnesota Vikings players Pittsburgh Steelers players