(born
August 15 ,
1969 in
New Orleans, Louisiana ) is a former professional
American Football Running Back in the
NFL from 1991 to 1999. He was an
All-American out of the
University Of Colorado and was selected by the
San Diego Chargers in the 2nd round of the
1991 NFL Draft .
Bieniemy lettered in football and track at Bishop Amat High School in
La Puente, California , earning second-team All-America honors in football as a senior when he rushed for 2,002 yards and 30 touchdowns. He Stood 5'6 190 lbs.
Bieniemy was heavily recruited out of
High School and chose the
University Of Colorado , where he became a member of
Omega Psi Phi fraternity. Bieniemy's footprints are all over the CU record book, as he remains the school's all-time leader in rushing (3,940 yards), all-purpose yards (4,351), touchdowns (42) and scoring (254 points). He was the nation's second leading rusher in
1990 with 1,628 yards, along with 17 touchdowns, when he finished third in the
Heisman Trophy balloting that year behind
BYU 's
Ty Detmer (the winner) and
Notre Dame 's
Raghib Ismail .
In
1990 , he earned consensus
All-America honors. He was a two-time first-team all
Big-Eight performer, in 1988 and in 1990, earning the conference's offensive player-of-the-year honor as a senior. As a junior, he was named to CU's prestigious 25-member "All-Century Football Team," the only active player at the time to be selected to the group honoring the first 100 years of Colorado Buffalo football.
Bienemy's success in college did not translate into the professional ranks. He played from
1991 til
1999 , finishing his career with 1589 yards rushing, 1223 yards receiving, 276 yards returning punts, 1,621 yards on kickoff returns, and 12 touchdowns (11 rushing and 1 kickoff return) while paying for the
San Diego Chargers ,
Cincinnati Bengals and
Philadelphia Eagles . He was immortalized by
Chris Berman with the nickname Eric "Sleeping with" Bieniemy in reference to the movie
Sleeping With The Enemy .
Bieniemy was the running backs coach at
UCLA from to 2003-2005, as well as the team's recruiting coordinator in
2005 . Following UCLA's 2005
Sun Bowl victory, Bienemy accepted a position as running backs coach for the
Minnesota Vikings .
Bienemy and his wife, Mia, have two sons, Eric III and Elijah.
