Ameer Abdullah: From College Standout to NFL Running Back

Ameer Abdullah, born on June 13, 1993, is an American professional football running back who currently plays for the Indianapolis Colts in the National Football League (NFL). His journey to the NFL began with a successful college career at the University of Nebraska, where he established himself as one of the program's all-time greats.

Early Life and High School Career

Born and raised in Homewood, Alabama, Abdullah is the youngest of nine children of Kareem and Aisha Abdullah. He excelled both academically and athletically. He was a History major in college. In addition to his football prowess, Abdullah was also a track star at Homewood High School. He showcased his speed in the 100 meters, recording a career-best time of 11.15 seconds at the 2011 AHSAA 6A Section 3 Championships.

Despite receiving football scholarship offers from several schools, including Alabama and Auburn, Abdullah ultimately chose Nebraska. He wanted to play running back, while other schools wanted him as a cornerback. Nebraska coach Bo Pelini offered him the opportunity to maximize his talent at the running back position.

College Career at Nebraska

Abdullah's college career at Nebraska was nothing short of remarkable. He was one of six true freshmen to play for Nebraska in the 2011 season. He made an immediate impact, particularly as a return specialist. He broke the previous Nebraska record for total kickoff return yards. His best game was against Fresno State when he had 228 return yards. He had 211 kickoff return yards including a 100-yard touchdown return.

2012 Season

After Rex Burkhead was injured, Abdullah started seven games. In 2012, Abdullah played in all 14 games with seven starts and helped Nebraska lead the Big Ten in both rushing and total offense. Abdullah ran for at least 100 yards in each of his first five starts, the first Nebraska player to accomplish that since 1994. He finished the year with six 100-yard rushing games. His 81.2 rushing yards per game were ninth in the Big Ten, and he ranked fourth in the conference in all-purpose yards per game at 134.6 yards per game. Abdullah carried the ball more than 15 times in eight games, including 30 or more carries against both Arkansas State and Penn State. Out of the backfield, Abdullah caught 24 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. After Burkhead went down early in the Southern Miss contest, Abdullah took over as the lead back and rushed 15 times for 81 yards. Abdullah earned his first career start at UCLA and responded with 16 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Abdullah rushed for a season-high 167 yards on 30 carries against Arkansas State, including a season-long 45-yard run. Abdullah produced one of the most prolific all-purpose games in school history against Wisconsin. He totaled 252 all-purpose yards, including five kickoff returns for 142 yards, highlighted by an 83-yard return in the first quarter. He also ran 10 times for 70 yards and had 22 receiving yards. Abdullah helped key Nebraska’s six-game win streak in the second half of the regular season. Abdullah ran for 110 yards on 22 carries at Michigan State and caught a touchdown pass in the game. He was a workhorse in a comeback win against Penn State, carrying a career-high 31 times for 116 yards.

2013 Season

Abdullah rushed for over 100 yards in 11 of 13 games (including the Gator Bowl). The ten 100-yard games during the regular season placed him fourth in Nebraska school history. Abdullah ran for 1,690 yards and nine touchdowns on 281 carries during the 2013 season. Abdullah topped 100 yards in 11 of 13 games, including a career-high 225 yards against Illinois. Abdullah averaged 130.0 rushing yards per game to rank second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally. Abdullah was also Nebraska’s third-leading receiver with 26 receptions for 232 yards and two touchdowns. Abdullah averaged 6.0 yards per carry and carried the ball more than 20 times nine times in 2013, including each of the final six games. While showing the ability to carry a heavy load, Abdullah also provided a big-play threat in the running game. Abdullah opened the year with 114 yards against Wyoming, including a career-long 62-yard run in the second quarter. He also ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Miss. Abdullah was limited to 98 yards against UCLA, but accounted for 148 all-purpose yards in the contest. He enjoyed a career day against Illinois, rushing for a career-high 225 yards and two touchdowns on just 20 carries, the most rushing yards for a Husker since 2010. Abdullah had three runs of 30 yards or more against the Fighting Illini, including a spectacular 43-yard TD run in the third quarter. Abdullah surpassed the 2,000-yard career rushing mark at Purdue when he rushed 20 times for 126 yards and a touchdown. He ran 24 times for 127 yards against Northwestern to move past 1,000 rushing yards on the season. He was the first NU player to break the 1,000-yard mark in eight games since Ahman Green in 1997. Abdullah rushed for 105 hard-fought yards on 27 carries in a 17-13 win at Michigan. He also caught a five-yard touchdown pass in the final minutes to provide the winning score. Abdullah rushed 22 times for 123 yards against Michigan State’s top-ranked rushing defense. Abdullah posted his eighth straight 100-yard rushing game at Penn State with 25 carries for 147 yards, including a 50-yard run to set up a tying field goal in the fourth quarter. He closed the regular season with 23 carries for 85 yards and a touchdown against Iowa.

2014 Season

On August 31, he started the season with 114 rushing yards against Wyoming. In the next game against Southern Miss, he had 114 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. After going for 98 yards against UCLA, he had 139 rushing yards and a touchdown against South Dakota State. He achieved a career-high rushing against Illinois of 225 yards. He followed that up with 126 rushing yards and a touchdown in the game against Purdue. In the next game, at Minnesota, he had 165 rushing yards. On November 9, against Michigan, he had 105 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown in the victory. In the next game, against Michigan State, he had 123 rushing yards and a 12-yard receiving touchdown. In the following game, against Penn State, he had 147 rushing yards and 18 receiving yards. For the season, he rushed for an average of 130.7 yards per game, which ranked him second in the Big Ten and seventh nationally. He had 232 yards in pass receptions and averaged 154.9 all-purpose yards per game, which also ranked him second in the Big Ten. He was placed on the All-Big Ten first-team by both the conference's coaches and media. Abdullah put together his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season in 2014, a first in the history of the Nebraska football program. The 5-9, 200-pound Abdullah had four games with more than 200 rushing yards, tying a Nebraska single-season record. Abdullah finished 2014 with 1,611 rushing yards, which ranks sixth on the Nebraska single-season list and the second-best rushing total for a Husker senior. His 2014 rushing total came on the heels of 1,690 rushing yards in 2013, making Abdullah just the second player in school history with a pair of 1,500-yard rushing seasons. Abdullah finished his career with 4,588 career rushing yards, trailing only Mike Rozier’s NU record of 4,780 career rushing yards. Abdullah’s average of 123.9 rushing yards per game ranked 13th nationally and he averaged an impressive 6.1 yards per carry. Abdullah was also a receiving threat out of the backfield with 22 receptions and three touchdowns, and a dangerous kickoff returner, averaging 28.0 yards on 14 returns. Abdullah averaged 174.8 all-purpose yards per game to rank fourth nationally. Abdullah’s 2,272 all-purpose yards this season are the second-most in school history. Abdullah increased his career all-purpose yardage total to 7,186 yards, a total that ranks second in Big Ten history. He is one of just 11 players in FBS history to surpass 7,000 career all-purpose yards. Abdullah found the end zone with regularity in 2014. Abdullah had 19 rushing touchdowns and 22 total TDs to rank in the top 10 on the NU season charts in both of those categories. He also ranked ninth nationally in scoring, averaging 10.2 points per game and his 132 points scored this season are tied for the third-most in school history. His 288 career points were sixth in NU history and third among position players.

Statistical Highlights from 2014

Florida Atlantic: Rushed 21 times for a career-high 232 yards.
McNeese State: Rushed 17 times for 54 yards and one touchdown; caught three passes for a career-high 96 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown reception.
Fresno State: Rushed 19 times for 110 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown run.
Miami: Rushed a career-high 35 times for 229 yards and two touchdowns, while also adding a three-yard touchdown reception.
Illinois: Rushed 22 times for 208 yards with a career-high three rushing touchdowns.
Michigan State: Rushed 24 times for 45 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
Northwestern: Rushed 23 times for 146 yards and a career-high four touchdowns.
Rutgers: Rushed 19 times for 225 yards and three touchdowns.
Iowa: Rushed 13 times for 106 yards, including a 53-yard run in the third quarter.
USC: Capped his Nebraska career with 269 all-purpose yards in the Holiday Bowl…rushed for 88 yards, including a 20-yard third-quarter touchdown…caught a career-high six passes for 61 yards…had three kickoff returns for 120 yards, including returns of 49 and 46 yards…His rushed touchdown was his 19th of the season and 22nd overall touchdown of 2014, and 48th overall score in career.

Awards and Honors

Abdullah's outstanding performance earned him numerous accolades, including:

Second-Team All-American (Walter Camp, CBS, Scout, Athlon, AP, SI)
Doak Walker Award Finalist
Senior CLASS Award Winner
Pop Warner College Football Award
Paul Hornung Award Finalist
Wuerffel Trophy Finalist
Maxwell Award Semifinalist
Second-Team All-Big Ten (Coaches, Media)
Five-Time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week
Athlon Sports National Player of the Week
Walter Camp Player of the Year Watch List (2013, 2014)
Third-Team All-American (Associated Press)
Doak Walker Award Semifinalist
First-Team All-Big Ten (Coaches, Media, BTN, Phil Steele)
Academic All-Big Ten (2013, 2014)
Team Captain (2013, 2014)
Nebraska Team MVP (2013, 2014)
Nebraska Offensive MVP (2014)
Nebraska Lifter of the Year (2012, 2013)
Second-Team All-Big Ten Running Back (Coaches, 2012)
Second-Team All-Big Ten Punt Returner (Phil Steele, 2012)
Third-Team All-Big Ten Running Back (Phil Steele, 2012)
Honorable-Mention All-Big Ten Running Back (Media, 2012)
Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers Return Specialist Award Semifinalist
Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week
Four-Time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll
Big Ten Sportsmanship Award (2014)
Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2014)
Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2014)
Nebraska HERO Leadership Award (2012, 2014)
First-Team All-Big Ten (Kickoff Returner, Yahoo.com, 2011)
Second-Team All-Big Ten (Kickoff Returner, Phil Steele, 2011)
Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Kickoff Returner and Punt Returner, Yahoo.com, 2011)
Big Ten All-Freshman Team (Punt Returner and Running Back, ESPN.com, 2011)
Big Ten Freshman of the Week (vs. Fresno State, 2011)

Analysis of Abdullah's Running Style

In late September 2014, Eric Galko and Ian Wharton of Sporting News analyzed his running attributes. They concluded that even though his 40-yard time is not below 4.4 second and he does not possess the most power when running, he is a complete running back. He runs very low, below the pad level of defenders, making him very difficult to tackle. Abdullah has great balance, vision to find holes and the patience to wait for his blockers to those open holes.

NFL Career

Detroit Lions (2015-2018)

Abdullah was selected by the Detroit Lions in the second round of the 2015 NFL draft. He began his rookie season as the Lions' third running back on their depth chart behind veterans Joique Bell and Theo Riddick. He made his professional regular season debut in the Lion's season opener against the San Diego Chargers, finishing with seven carries for 50 rushing yards and four catches for 44 receiving yards. He scored his first career touchdown on a 24-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter of the 28-33 loss to the Chargers. The following week, he had his first career start against the Minnesota Vikings and finished the 16-26 loss with six carries for nine yards. On September 27, 2015, Abdullah had eight rushing attempts for 23 rushing yards and made two catches to 19 receiving yards and a touchdown in a 12-24 loss to the Denver Broncos. He caught his first career touchdown reception on a 16-yard pass from Matt Stafford. In Week 12, he made his second career start and rushed for 63 yards on a season-high 16 carries, while also making one reception for 12 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles. He remained the starting running back for the rest of the season. On December 21, 2015, Abdullah had nine carries for a season-high 77 rushing yards and scored his second rushing touchdown of the season against the New Orleans Saints. He finished his rookie season with a total of 143 carries, 597 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 25 receptions, 183 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown while starting nine games and playing in all 16 games. Abdullah was awarded the Lions 2015 Rookie of the Year Award by members of Detroit Sports Media. He began his second season as the Detroit Lions' starting running back for the beginning of the regular season. Abdullah entered the 2018 season second on the depth chart behind veteran LeGarrette Blount. He was quickly passed by rookie Kerryon Johnson as the starter.

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Carolina Panthers (2021)

He was released on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on September 18, 2021. He was three days later and re-signed to the practice squad.

Las Vegas Raiders (2022-2023)

Abdullah signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on March 18, 2022. In the 2022 season, he appeared in 17 games and had 25 receptions for 211 yards and a receiving touchdown to go with some kickoff return duties. He re-signed with the team on March 9, 2023. In the 2023 season, he appeared in 17 games.

Personal Life and Beliefs

Abdullah was born on June 13, 1993, in Homewood, Alabama. He is the son of Kareem and Aisha Abdullah, and the youngest of nine children. Abdullah is Muslim. He prays five times a day and fasts during Ramadan, including during football season. Abdullah has stated that fasting during Ramadan helps his performance, stating that "It gives a lot of Muslim athletes an opportunity to focus on your mental toughness and discipline…At the close of Ramadan it's always good for me because I'm at my best state mentally.

Community Involvement

Abdullah is known for his commitment to giving back to the community. Some examples include:

In collaboration with Project Success, traveled with Vikings teammates and Twin Cities-area students to Washington, D.C., to tour the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
After being contacted by Dearborn, Mich., students on social media, Abdullah personally assisted local youth groups with ongoing water donation drives for the residents of Flint, Mich., over two years.

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