Tyrone Antonio Rush (born February 5, 1971) is a former professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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) for the

Washington Redskins 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) NFC East, East ...

, having played in 5 games in the 1994 NFL season. He also played several seasons in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL; the name is in English) is the top level American football league in Italy first established in 1978. The first recognized league champion was crowned in 1980. The annual final playoff game to determine the league c ...

(IFL).

College

Rush 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 ...

at the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama, United States. It is the state's oldest university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also ...

, where he was an All American. He was also selected as the 1993 runner-up 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 the NCAA Division II Player of the Year. Rush helped the Lions go 14-0 and win the Gulf South Conference and NCAA Division II National Championships. Rush was inducted to the North Alabama

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

in 2004. Rush holds several school records as of 2009, including: *Most carries in a single season (237). *Most career carries (791). *Most yards gained in a game (248). *Most yards gained in a career (4,421). *Tied most 100-yard games in a regular season (7). *Most 100-yard games in an entire season (8). *Most consecutive 100-yard games (5). *Most 100-yard games in a career (21). *Most career

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 ...

(6,020). *Most rushing touchdowns in a season (19).

Italian Football League

Rush also played football professionally in Italy for the

Bergamo Lions The Bergamo Lions are an American football team from Bergamo, Italy established in 1983 and playing in the Italian Football League. They won the Eurobowl in 2000, 2001 and 2002, while losing to the Vienna Vikings in the finals of 2004 and 2005 Eur ...

from 1998 to 2004 where he was one of the top players in Europe, being named to the

European Federation of American Football IFAF Europe was the governing body of American football in Europe. It is a member of the International Federation of American Football. IFAF Europe replaced the European Federation of American Football (EFAF) which had begun in 1976 as the America ...

All Europe team on more than one occasion. Rush was

season MVP in 1999, and set the league season rushing record. Rush helped the Lions win

Eurobowl The Eurobowl, first played in 1986, was the championship final game of a tournament style playoff to determine the champion of all of the American football leagues in Europe. The tournament featured the top or champion clubs from each country ...

championships, and was named the Eurobowl game MVP in 2000. He later participated on the show

Extreme Dodgeball ''Extreme Dodgeball'' is an American game show based on the game of dodgeball that aired between 2004 and 2005 on the Game Show Network. The series ran for three seasons, each of which featured six to eight teams of five to seven players. The f ...

on the

Game Show Network Game Show Network (GSN) is an American basic cable channel owned by the television network division of Sony Pictures Television. The channel's programming is primarily dedicated to game shows, including reruns of acquired game shows, along wit ...

in each of its three seasons. He spent his first two seasons on the Barbell Mafia, and his last on the New York Bling, the champion of the final season. He led the league in kills in Season Three of the show. His nickname was "The Rush Factor".

Notes

1971 births Living people Players of American football from Meridian, Mississippi American football running backs North Alabama Lions football players Washington Redskins players Montreal Alouettes players American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football Italian Football League players 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1970s-stub