After a standout career at Boone County High School in
Kentucky , Alexander won player of the year honors for the state of Kentucky. He set records of 3,166 rushing yards and 54
Touchdown s for his high school team, and accepted a
Scholarship offer from the
University Of Alabama . Alexander wasted little time in showing his prowess on the football field at the collegiate level. As a freshman in 1996, he ran for 291 yards, an Alabama single-game rushing record, and four touchdowns against
LSU in
Tiger Stadium . After deciding against declaring for the
NFL Draft after his junior year in 1998, Alexander returned to
Tuscaloosa and had a banner season. He was initially given
Heisman consideration, but a sprained ankle in a game against
Tennessee ended his chances of that. Nevertheless, Alexander still played a key role in leading the Tide to the
SEC Championship in 1999, with his game-winning 25-yard touchdown run against the third-ranked
Florida in
Gainesville , and also his dominating fourth quarter performance against in-state foe
Auburn in the
Iron Bowl . Alexander still holds the Alabama rushing record with 3,565 yards in four seasons.
Alexander was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the 19th pick of the
2000 NFL Draft . He played in all 16 games his rookie year but saw limited action behind starter
Ricky Watters . His fame rose the following year. In a game played on October 11, 2001 against the Oakland Raiders, he rushed for a franchise record 266 yards on 35 carries. In 2001, he led the NFL in rushing
Touchdown s with 14 and was tied for second with Terrell Owens with 16 total
Touchdowns .
In 2002, he started all 16 games en route to an
NFC leading (and franchise record) 16 rushing touchdowns, four of which came in the first half of Seattle's
29 September 2002 game against the
Minnesota Vikings where he also caught a touchdown pass. The five touchdowns in that half set an NFL record.
2003 was another productive year for Alexander. He rushed his way to a career high of 1,435 rushing yards and scored 16 touchdowns. Seattle also made its first playoff appearance since 2000. Alexander's success in the 2003 season earned him his first trip to
Honolulu for the annual
Pro Bowl .
In 2004, Alexander remained one of the key components of Seattle's offense. He finished second in the NFL in rushing yards (with 1,696) to the
New York Jets '
Curtis Martin by a single yard. After being passed over for a late game rushing attempt during his team's victory over the
Atlanta Falcons , Alexander accused his coach
Mike Holmgren of "stabbing him in the back" by denying Alexander an opportunity to win the rushing title. Alexander retracted his comments the following day, and expressed support for his coach.
Alexander has had a great deal of success in the 2005 season. In the first game, he rushed for 173 yards. Other highlights include an 88 yard touchdown run against the
Arizona Cardinals on November 6, 2005, and rushing for 165 yards against the
St. Louis Rams on November 13, 2005. Also, he has had two 4 touchdown games so far this year, against Arizona on September 25, 2005, and against the
Houston Texans on October 16, 2005. He led the NFL in rushing yards, touchdowns,
Pro Bowl votes, and points.
In 2005, he broke the franchise record for the most rushing yards in the Seattle Seahawks' history. On November 13, 2005, scoring 3 touchdowns, Alexander became the first running back in NFL history to record 15 or more touchdowns in five consecutive seasons.
On November 20, 2005, in San Francisco, Shaun Alexander became the first player in NFL History to score 19 rushing or receiving TDs in only 10 games (
Steve Van Buren had 18 in 1945). A feat that eventually led to him breaking
Priest Holmes record of 27 total touchdowns set in 2002, and his 27 rushing touchdowns also tied Holmes for the most in a single season.
On December 11th, 2005, in Seattle's '', with the headline "Do you know his name?". In a fitting piece of irony, the article failed to spell his name correctly (Shawn instead of Shaun). Because of all this success he has been nicknamed "The Franchise" by his fellow players.
On
January 1 ,
2006 , in a game versus the
Green Bay Packers , Alexander set the record for touchdowns in a season, 28. He also won his first NFL rushing title with 1,880 yards. In 2005, he joined
Emmitt Smith ,
Priest Holmes , and
Marshall Faulk as the only running backs to record consecutive seasons of 20 or more touchdowns. Four days later, on
January 5 , he was awarded him with the
2005 NFL MVP Award beating out
Indianapolis Colts Quarterback Peyton Manning who had won the award the previous two years. Alexander was named
MVP with 19 out of a possible 50 votes. A day after receiving the
MVP award, Alexander was named
Associated Press Offensive Player Of The Year . He received 34 votes of a panel of 50 NFL sportwriters and broadcasters. He was also named the
FedEx Ground
NFL Player of the Year.
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In the 2006 Divisional playoff game against the
Washington Redskins Alexander suffered a
Concussion . Many experts began calling him "soft", and his relatively poor performance in his other two playoff games seemed to support this theory. However, in the
NFC Championship Game against the
Carolina Panthers he had 34 carries for 132 yards and two touchdowns, which was easily the best playoff performance of his career.
Shaun Alexander and the Seahawks lost to the
Pittsburgh Steelers in
Super Bowl XL on February 5th, 2006. Alexander ran for 95 yards in the loss.
In
March of
2006 Alexander signed an 8-year $62 million contract to remain a part of the
Seattle Seahawks organization, becoming the NFL's highest paid running back in history.
Alexander will be featured on the cover of
Madden NFL 07 .
