MANHATTAN, Kan. (K-State Athletics) – College Football Hall of Famer and Kansas State Ring of Honor member Darren Sproles was honored on Tuesday by being named to the Senior Bowl 75th Anniversary Team, the bowl’s committee announced Tuesday.
Sproles was selected to the team by a public, online fan vote, NFL General Managers and Personnel, and Senior Bowl Committee and staff. The team includes 19 Pro Football Hall of Famers, 119 All-Pro First Team selections, 63 All-Pro Second Team selections and 253 Pro Bowl selections.
A 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Inductee, Sproles was a 2003 First Team All-American and three-time All-Big 12 performer as he left K-State with 28 school records. The Olathe, Kansas, product rushed for 4,979 career yards, which ranks third in Big 12 history and is nearly 1,400 yards more than any other player in K-State history. Sproles, who finished fifth in the 2003 Heisman Trophy voting and third in the Associated Press Player of the Year voting that same season, was a three-time All-American.
After his four-year career with the Wildcats, Sproles enjoyed a 16-year NFL career with the then-San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles. A fourth-round pick by San Diego in 2005, Sproles set the Chargers’ franchise record for career kickoff-return yards. In 2011 with the Saints, Sproles set the NFL single-season record for all-purpose yardage at 2,696 yards, a record that still stands.
Sproles finished his career with six years in Philadelphia, earning three Pro Bowl selections and a Super Bowl Ring following the 2017 season. He retired following the 2019 season, and he ranks sixth in NFL history in career all-purpose yardage with 19,696 yards.
A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade Team for the 2010s, Sproles was also named to the San Diego Chargers’ 50th Anniversary Team and was selected to K-State’s Ring of Honor in 2015.
