Mike Alstott
{{Short description|American football player (born 1973)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Mike Alstott
| image = Mike Alstott ESPNWeekend2010-082.jpg
| caption = Alstott in 2010
| number = 40
| position = Fullback
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|12|21}}
| birth_place = Joliet, Illinois, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 1
| weight_lb = 248
| high_school = Joliet Catholic
| college = Purdue (1992–1995)
| draftyear = 1996
| draftround = 2
| draftpick = 35
| pastteams =
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers ({{NFL Year|1996|2007}})
| highlights =
- Super Bowl champion (XXXVII)
- 3× First-team All-Pro (1997–1999)
- Second-Team All-Pro (1996)
- 6× Pro Bowl (1997–2002)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor
- Third-team All-American (1995)
- 2× Second-team All-Big Ten (1994, 1995)
- Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame
- Indiana Football Hall of Fame (2014)
| statlabel1 = Rushing yards
| statvalue1 = 5,088
| statlabel2 = Rushing average
| statvalue2 = 3.7
| statlabel3 = Rushing touchdowns
| statvalue3 = 58
| statlabel4 = Receptions
| statvalue4 = 305
| statlabel5 = Receiving yards
| statvalue5 = 2,284
| statlabel6 = Receiving touchdowns
| statvalue6 = 13
| pfr = A/AlstMi00
}}
Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973) is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the 1996 NFL draft. Alstott received six Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro honors during his career, in addition to being part of the Buccaneers team that won the franchise's first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XXXVII. For his accomplishments in Tampa Bay, he was inducted to the Buccaneers Ring of Honor in 2015. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks of all time. One of the NFL's YouTube channels called Alstott "the last legendary fullback".{{Citation |title=Mike Alstott's Ascent to Become the LAST Legendary Fullback! {{!}} Throwback Originals |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLQ7ZX3n8mg |access-date=November 10, 2023 |language=en}}
College career
Alstott attended Purdue University for four years, where he became the first player in school history named MVP in three consecutive seasons. Alstott scored 12 touchdowns as a sophomore, 14 as a junior, and 11 as a senior, and held the Purdue rushing touchdown record with 39 until Kory Sheets broke it in 2008. He averaged 5.6 yards per attempt during his Purdue career before graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in business. He finished as Purdue's all-time leading rusher with 3,635 yards, including a school-best 1,436 yards in 1995.{{cite web |title=2011 Purdue Football Information Guide |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/prospectus/prospectus.pdf |website=cstv.com |access-date=November 7, 2011 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083340/http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/pur/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/prospectus/prospectus.pdf |url-status=dead }}
Professional career
{{BLP sources section|date=July 2020}}
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 0 3/8
| weight = 240
| dash = 4.68
| ten split = 1.65
| twenty split = 2.73
| shuttle = 4.16
| cone drill =
| vertical = 33.0
| broad ft = 9
| broad in = 9
| bench = 24
| arm span = 31 1/2
| hand span = 9 7/8
| wonderlic =
| note = All values from NFL Combine{{Cite web |url=https://nflcombineresults.com/playerpage.php?i=23157 |title=Mike Alstott, Combine Results, FB - Purdue |website=nflcombineresults.com |access-date=January 20, 2022}}
}}
Alstott was selected in the second round (35th overall) of the 1996 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.{{Cite web |title=1996 NFL Draft Listing |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1996/draft.htm |access-date=March 30, 2023 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}} The Buccaneers utilized Alstott primarily as a running fullback as opposed to a blocking fullback that teams were starting to switch to at the time. He was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII (2002), played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. Alstott rushed for 15 yards and the first Super Bowl touchdown in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. He also caught five passes for 43 yards.{{Cite web |title=Super Bowl XXXVII - Oakland Raiders vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - January 26th, 2003 |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200301260rai.htm |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=Pro-Football-Reference.com |language=en}}
Alstott signed a one-year contract to stay in Tampa Bay for the 2005 season, and signed a similar contract at the conclusion of the 2006 season after contemplating retirement. However, he spent all of the 2007 season on injured reserve because of neck problems, leading to his retirement on January 24, 2008.{{Cite web |date=2008-01-24 |title=Bucs' all-time touchdown leader Alstott retires |url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=3212392 |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=ESPN.com|agency=Associated Press}}
In the summer of 2007, shortly before he suffered his season-ending and ultimately career-ending neck injury, Alstott appeared in a television commercial for ESPN Fantasy Football along with former teammate Warrick Dunn, who was later signed by the Falcons.
He was ranked No. 10 on the NFL Network's "Top Ten Power Backs".
With 71 total touchdowns as a Buccaneer, Alstott broke the previous franchise record of 46 by running back James Wilder when he scored his 47th career TD on November 26, 2001. Alstott remained the Buccaneers' all-time leading touchdown scorer until November 22, 2021, when wide receiver Mike Evans scored his 72nd TD as a Buccaneer.{{cite web|url=https://www.buccaneers.com/news/mike-evans-breaks-alstott-touchdown-record-tampa-bay|title=Mike Evans Breaks Mike Alstott's Touchdown Record|last1=Smith|first1=Scott|publisher=Buccaneers.com|date=November 23, 2021|accessdate=November 24, 2021}}
NFL career statistics
Rushing statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Att | Yards | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Fum | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 96 || 377 || 3.9 || 39 || 3 || 21 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1997 || TB
| 15 || 15 || 176 || 665 || 3.8 || 47 || 7 || 34 || 4 || 3 | |||||||||||
| 1998 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 215 || 846 || 3.9 || 37 || 8 || 49 || 4 || 4 | |||||||||||
| 1999 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 242 || 949 || 3.9 || 30 || 7 || 47 || 6 || 6 | |||||||||||
| 2000 || TB
| 13 || 13 || 131 || 465 || 3.6 || 20 || 5 || 37 || 3 || 2 | |||||||||||
| 2001 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 165 || 680 || 4.1 || 39 || 11 || 40 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2002 || TB
| 16 || 9 || 146 || 548 || 3.8 || 32 || 5 || 37 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 2003 || TB
| 4 || 3 || 27 || 77 || 2.9 || 29 || 2 || 10 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2004 || TB
| 14 || 11 || 67 || 230 || 3.4 || 32 || 2 || 20 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 2005 || TB
| 16 || 7 || 34 || 80 || 2.4 || 9 || 6 || 12 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2006 || TB
| 16 || 15 || 60 || 171 || 2.9 || 17 || 3 || 17 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||||
| colspan="2"| Total || 158 || 137 || 1,359 || 5,088 || 3.7 || 47 || 58 || 324 || 23 || 19 |
Receiving statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Rec | Yards | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Fum | Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 65 || 557 || 8.6 || 29 || 3 || 28 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1997 || TB
| 15 || 15 || 23 || 178 || 7.7 || 26 || 3 || 13 || 1 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 1998 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 22 || 152 || 6.9 || 26 || 1 || 7 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 1999 || TB
| 16 || 16 || 27 || 239 || 8.9 || 24 || 2 || 11 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2000 || TB
| 13 || 13 || 13 || 93 || 7.2 || 21 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2001 || TB
| 16 || 16|| 35 || 231 || 6.6 || 19 || 1 || 9 || 2 || 2 | |||||||||||
| 2002 || TB
| 16 || 9 || 35 || 242 || 6.9 || 44 || 2 || 11 || 2 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 2003 || TB
| 4 || 3 || 10 || 83 || 8.3 || 17 || 0 || 3 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2004 || TB
| 14 || 11 || 29 || 202 || 7.0 || 20 || 0 || 11 || 1 || 1 | |||||||||||
| 2005 || TB
| 16 || 7 || 25 || 222 || 8.9 || 24 || 1 || 11 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| 2006 || TB
| 16 || 15 || 21 || 85 || 4.0 || 18 || 0 || 6 || 0 || 0 | |||||||||||
| colspan="2"| Total || 158 || 137 || 305 || 2,284 || 7.5 || 44 || 13 || 113 || 9 || 6 |
Personal life
Alstott and his ex-wife, Nicole Alstott, have three children.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.tampabay.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/03/03/alsstott.jpg |title=Alstott & Family |access-date=December 31, 2008}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} His son Griffin was a quarterback at Western Michigan from 2018 to 2020, after spending the 2017 season at Purdue.{{Cite web|url=https://wmubroncos.com/sports/football/roster/griffin-alstott/7794|title=Griffin Alstott - Football|website=Western Michigan University Athletics|language=en|access-date=January 25, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{Footballstats |nfl=Mike-Alstott |espn=925 |cbs=1169 |yahoo=3500 |si=3500 |pfr=A/AlstMi00}}
{{Buccaneers1996DraftPicks}}
{{Super Bowl XXXVII}}
{{Tampa Bay Buccaneers Ring of Honor}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alstott, Mike}}
Category:American football fullbacks
Category:National Conference Pro Bowl players
Category:Players of American football from Joliet, Illinois