C. J. Spiller

Clifford Spiller Jr., nicknamed "C.J.", is a professional football player currently signed as a running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He was born on August 15, 1987 in Lake Butler, Florida.

Spiller was drafted out of Clemson University as the 9th overall pick by the Buffalo Bills during the 2010 NFL Draft. Going into the draft, he was projected a first round draft choice and was listed the #1 running back of the 2010 draft class by various sports analysts.

Spiller played for Union County High School in Lake Butler alongside current Clemson teammate, Kevin Alexander. During his senior year at Union County, he rushed for 1,840 yards on 176 carries for 30 touchdowns. He also had fifteen receptions for 249yards.

In his entire high school career, Spiller rushed for 5,511yards on 541 carries.

College Career

Clemson University

Freshman

As a true freshman, Spiller immediately made himself known to the Clemson fans. In the season, he rushed for 938yards and ten touchdowns on 129 rushes, despite being the second-team running back behind James Davis. He scored his first collegiate touchdown in a 34-33 overtime loss to Boston College on an 82-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Will Proctor. After struggling versus Florida State the following week, Spiller turned it around against North Carolina by rushing for fifty-eight yards and two touchdowns in a 52-7 rout of the Tarheels. In the following weeks, Spiller had two triple-digit rushing games as the Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech and Wake Forest. Against Louisiana Tech, he rushed for 127yards and two touchdowns on eleven attempts, in a 51-0 rout of the Bulldogs, in which the entire Clemson team rushed for 393yards. Clemson finished the season with a 8-5 overall record, losing four of their final five games, and ended the season in a 28-20 Music City Bowl loss to the Kentucky Wildcats. Spiller rushed for only twenty-four yards on five attempts in the loss.

Sophomore

In his second season for the Tigers, Spiller had a less productive rushing season with only 768 yards and three touchdowns. He did, however, gain more receiving yards, with 271 yards and two additional touchdowns. In the opening three games of the season, Spiller rushed for only eighty-five yards, including a career-worst -1 yards in a 38-10 victory over Furman. In a 13-3 loss, he was again stopped by the Georgia Tech defense, rushing for only two yards. His best statistical game came against rivals South Carolina, which Clemson won 23-21. Spiller ran for a team-high 122 yards on twenty-three attempts in the victory. In the team's bowl game, he rushed for 112 yards on eight attempts, including one touchdown in a 23-20 loss to Auburn in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Junior

With Spiller and fellow running back James Davis, the Clemson Tigers were favored to win the opening game of their 2008 season against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Chick-fil-A College Kickoff. However, a stingy Alabama defense held Spiller to just seven yards on two attempts. He did score though, on a kickoff return for a touchdown. In his second game, however, he rushed for seventy-five yards on six carries, which included three touchdowns in a 45-17 victory over The Citadel. On January 15, 2009, he announced he would remain for his senior year at Clemson instead of entering the 2009 NFL Draft.

Senior

As of November 14th, 2009, Spiller needs 104 all-purpose running yards to become the all-time leader in the ACC. He is also one of 27 football players in NCAA history to have more than 6,000 all purpose yards. In the Tiger's 40-24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7th, 2009, Spiller and Jacoby Ford became the greatest all-purpose duo in NCAA history (a record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State). He has posted 40-yard dash times of 4.28-4.48 seconds.

On November 28, 2009. C.J. set the FBS record for kickoff return Touchdowns with 7 during his lustrious career. On November 23, 2009, Spiller was named as one of the three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award. Spiller, along with Mark Ingram of Alabama and Toby Gerhart of Stanford, was selected by a vote of the 130-member Doak Walker Award National Selection Committee. The Committee will cast a second vote to determine the recipient of the 2009 Doak Walker Award. The recipient will be announced live on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards at 7:30 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, December 10. The award will be presented at the 2009 Doak Walker Award Presentation Banquet in Dallas on Friday, February 19, 2010.

During the South Carolina game, he set the record for kickoff returns by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown and bringing his number to seven, he also earned his spot in the record books in another way on that kickoff return, by being only one of five players to ever gain 7000 all-purpose yards. According to ESPN statistics, Spiller carried the ball 9 times for 18 yards, an average of 2.0 yds per carry. This was down from his usual yds/carry which is around 8 yds/carry.

On December 2, 2009, Spiller was voted the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. The all-purpose threat was named as the league's top player following a vote of 40 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Spiller received 29 votes to outdistance Georgia Tech quarterback Josh Nesbitt, who had eight. Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams, the league's rookie of the year, had two votes and Yellow Jackets defensive end Derrick Morgan had one. Spiller was the nation's only player this season to account for touchdowns five different ways - rushing, passing, receiving, and on kick and punt returns - and had passing, rushing and receiving TDs in one game, a victory against North Carolina State. He returned four kickoffs and a punt for scores this year and has eight total returns for TDs during his career. He scored at least once in every game this season while leading Clemson to the Atlantic Division title and a spot in the league title game against Georgia Tech. Spiller led the ACC with an average of nearly 184 all-purpose yards and was the league's fourth-leading rusher, averaging 76 yards. Spiller is the seventh Tiger to be named player of the year and the first since Michael Dean Perry in 1987.

C.J. Spiller has set 26 school records. He is the only Clemson player to ever produce 100-yard games four ways - rushing, receiving, punt returns and kickoff returns. He is also the first player in ACC history and the fifth player in FBS history to reach 7,000 all-purpose yards. He has more career all-purpose yards than three previous Heisman winners - Tim Brown of Notre Dame, Desmond Howard of Michigan and Reggie Bush of Southern California.