James Ottis “Little Man” Stewart III (born December 27, 1971) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back for nine seasons in theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theTennessee Volunteers and was selected by theJacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the1995 NFL draft. Stewart played in the NFL for the Jaguars andDetroit Lions from 1995 to 2003.

Stewart played football at his high school ofMorristown West High School inMorristown, Tennessee.^[1] He played college football at theUniversity of Tennessee from 1991 to 1994. He had his only 1,000 yard rushing season his senior year, where he also ran for 11 touchdowns. While he left as the career leader in rushing yards, he's currently at the third most with 2,890, and still has the most rushing touchdowns with 35, in school history.^[2]

Stewart was the second selection by the new expansionJacksonville Jaguars with the 19th pick of the first round in the1995 NFL draft.^[4] In his rookie season, Stewart led the Jaguars in rushing with 525 yards and had two rushing touchdowns.^[5][6] He led the team again in 1996 with 723 yards and eight touchdowns.^[7][8] He finished the 1997 season with 555 yards and eight touchdowns, however he finished second on the team that year in rushing yards behind teammateNatrone Means.^[9][10] Stewart still holds the franchise record for the most points in a single game (30) and for the most rushing touchdowns in a game (5). Both these records were obtained on October 12, 1997, in a 38-21 Week 7 win over thePhiladelphia Eagles.^[11][12][13] The Jaguars draftedFred Taylor as their new franchise back in 1998 and, as a result, Stewart only rushed for 217 yards and two touchdowns.^[14] Due to injuries to Taylor in 1999, Stewart once again led the team with 931 rushing yards and had a career-high 13 touchdowns.^[15][16]

Stewart finished his Jaguars career rushing 765 times for 2,951 yards and 33 touchdowns. Stewart also played in six playoff games, including twoAFC Championships, rushing 31 total times for 162 yards and two touchdowns.^[17]

Stewart became a free agent and signed with theDetroit Lions prior to the2000 season.^[18] In his first year playing for the Lions, Stewart rushed for a career-high 1,184 yards and 10 touchdowns.^[19] In 2001, he rushed for 685 yards and one touchdown.^[20] During the 2002 season, he had another 1,000-plus yard season (1,021) and four touchdowns.^[21] He rushed for a career-high 172 yards in a 23-20 Week 7 victory over theChicago Bears.^[22] He was, however, injured late in 2002 with a severe shoulder injury and did not play in 2003, ending his career.^[23] According toCoy Wire, Stewart's injury occurred because of a bounty system established by thenBuffalo Bills head coachGregg Williams. Wire stated: "I shattered James Stewart's shoulder and he never played again. I was showered with praise for that. It's a shame that's how it was. Now I see how wrong that was."^[24]

Stewart finished his time with the Lions rushing 713 times for 2,890 yards and 15 touchdowns. In his career, he rushed for a total of 1,478 times for 5,841 yards and 48 touchdowns.

• Most points scored in a game: 30
• Most rushing touchdowns in a game: 5

Stewart wore number 33 while playing for theUniversity of Tennessee and theJaguars. He wore number 34 while playing for theLions.

He retired toJacksonville and owns his own personal training studio called Studio 33.^[2]

• Tennessee Volunteers bio

• 1971 births
• Living people
• Sportspeople from Morristown, Tennessee
• American football running backs
• Tennessee Volunteers football players
• Jacksonville Jaguars players
• Detroit Lions players
• Morristown-Hamblen High School West alumni
• People from Fairfield, Texas

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from March 2024
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from March 2024