Age: 23 (Sept. 11)
College: Boston
College
Height: 5’9” Weight: 191
Prelude:
Stradford set
a school career rushing record with 3504 yards at Boston College and scored 36
touchdowns. He was chosen by the Dolphins in the fourth round of the 1987 NFL
draft. A classic scatback who was fast and elusive, Stradford beat out Lorenzo
Hampton for a spot in the starting lineup.
1987 Season Summary
Appeared in 12
of 15 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Rushing
Attempts – 145
[19, tied with Larry Kinnebrew]
Most
attempts, game – 30 (for 120 yds.) vs. NY Jets 12/7
Yards – 619
[18]
Most yards,
game – 169 yards (on 17 carries) at Dallas 11/22
Average gain
– 4.3 [13]
TDs – 6 [10,
tied with Eric Dickerson, Sammy Winder & George Rogers]
100-yard
rushing games – 3
Pass
Receiving
Receptions – 48
Most
receptions, game – 8 (for 46 yds.) vs. Pittsburgh 11/1
Yards – 457
Most yards,
game – 83 (on 6 catches) at Dallas 11/22
Average gain
– 9.5
TDs – 1
Kickoff
Returns
Returns – 14
Yards – 258
Average per
return – 18.4
TDs – 0
Longest
return – 32 yards
All-Purpose
yards – 1334 [5]
Passing
Attempts – 1
Completions –
1
Yards – 6
TDs – 0
Scoring
TDs – 7 [16,
tied with twelve others]
Points – 42
Awards & Honors:
NFL Offensive
Rookie of the Year: AP, PFWA
Dolphins went
8-7 to finish third in the AFC East in the strike-shortened season (three games
were played with replacement players) while leading the NFL in passing yards
(3876) and the conference in touchdowns (47, tied with the Cleveland Browns).
Aftermath:
After setting
a franchise record for yards from scrimmage by a rookie, Stradford suffered
through an injury-plagued 1988 season and his rushing output dropped to 335
yards, although he caught 56 passes for 426 yards. A major knee injury limited
him to seven games and 473 yards from scrimmage in ’89 and, following a lesser
season in 1990, he signed with Kansas City as a Plan B free agent in 1991. The
Chiefs used him almost exclusively as a kick returner with unspectacular
results as he averaged 6.8 yards on 22 punt returns and 20.9 running back
kickoffs in a season in which he missed the first few weeks due to a broken arm.
Waived during the ’92 preseason, Stradford was picked up by the Rams and also
played for Detroit in what was his last NFL season. He played for the Amsterdam
Admirals of the WLAF in 1995 with modest results. Overall, Stradford rushed for
1380 yards on 356 carries (3.9 avg.) and caught 170 passes for 1479 yards (8.7
avg.), scoring a total of 12 touchdowns.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie
of the Year in the NFL, AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized
organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise
Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league
itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year).
