| No. 21 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1974-01-24)January 24, 1974 (age 51) Kinshasa, Republic of Zaire | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 215 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Jacques-Rousseau (QC) Vanier College | ||||||||||||||
| College | Michigan (1993–1995) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1996: 1st round, 8th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| CFL draft | 1996: 6th round, 46th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Tshimanga "Tim"Biakabutuka (born January 24, 1974) is a formerAmerican footballrunning back. He playedcollege football at theUniversity of Michigan from 1993 to 1995, and was drafted with the eight overall pick in the1996 NFL draft by theCarolina Panthers of theNational Football League (NFL). He holds theMichigan Wolverines single-season rushing record with 1,818 rushing yards in 1995. He is also distinguished as being the firstZairian to play in the NFL.
Biakabutuka left the formerZaire with his family forCanada when he was four years old, settling in theMontreal area, where his family still lives. He did not playgridiron football until his high school inLongueuil organized a team. After grade 11, he attendedCEGEP atVanier College inSaint-Laurent, Quebec, where his football exploits earned him the nickname "Touchdown Tim" and a scholarship to playcollege football at theUniversity of Michigan.[1]
Biakabutuka enrolled at theUniversity of Michigan in 1993 and playedcollege football for theMichigan Wolverines football team from 1993 to 1995.[2] As a freshman in 1993, he was a backup toTyrone Wheatley andRicky Powers, but he saw significant action againstPurdue on November 6, 1993, rushing for 140 yards and scoring two touchdowns on 24 carries.[3]
As a sophomore, Biakabutuka was again a backup to Wheatley, being used as a starter in only one game. Despite his role as a backup, Biakabutuka rushed for 783 yards and had four 100-yard games (141 yards againstMichigan State, 128 yards againstBoston College, and 100 yards against bothNotre Dame andPurdue).[3]
Biakabutuka became the Wolverines' full-time starting running back in 1995. That year, he brokeJamie Morris's single-season rushing record. Biakabutuka totalled 1,818 rushing yards on 303 carries (6.0 yards per carry) during the 1995 season.[3] On November 25, 1995, he rushed for 313 yards on 37 carries in a 31–23 victory over previously unbeatenOhio State.[4] His performance against Ohio State ranks as the second highest single-game performance in Michigan history, trailing onlyRon Johnson's 347-yard game againstWisconsin in 1968.[5]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft0+1⁄8 in (1.83 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | 31+7⁄8 in (0.81 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) |
Biakabutuka was selected by theCarolina Panthers in the first round (eighth overall pick) of the1996 NFL draft.[6][7] During his career in the NFL, Biakabutuka was often injured. He never played more than 12 games in a single season. For his career, he appeared in 51 games, 35 as a starter, over six seasons from 1996 to 2001. He totalled 2,530 rushing yards and 789 receiving yards and scored 17 touchdowns.[7] As a member of the Panthers, Biakabutuka became the first running back to record two touchdown runs of 60 or more yards in the same game.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1996 | CAR | 4 | 4 | 71 | 229 | 3.2 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | CAR | 8 | 2 | 75 | 299 | 4.0 | 26 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | CAR | 10 | 3 | 101 | 427 | 4.2 | 41 | 3 | 8 | 138 | 17.3 | 42 | 1 |
| 1999 | CAR | 11 | 11 | 138 | 718 | 5.2 | 67 | 6 | 23 | 189 | 8.2 | 32 | 0 |
| 2000 | CAR | 12 | 11 | 173 | 627 | 3.6 | 43 | 2 | 34 | 341 | 10.0 | 25 | 2 |
| 2001 | CAR | 5 | 4 | 53 | 230 | 4.3 | 27 | 1 | 12 | 121 | 10.1 | 47 | 0 |
| 50 | 35 | 611 | 2,530 | 4.1 | 67 | 14 | 77 | 789 | 10.2 | 47 | 3 | ||
Biakabutuka currently resides inMatthews, North Carolina, and owns eightBojangles restaurants inAugusta, Georgia.[8] He is a cousin toHakeem,Alain,Kalonji, andFernand Kashama, who also all played American or Canadian football.[9] Tim's nephew, Jérémie Biakabutuka, played hockey in theQMJHL whose rights were acquired by theAnaheim Ducks in a trade during the 2024–25 season[10]