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 Alstott in 2010 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 40 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1973-12-21)December 21, 1973 (age 52) Joliet, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 248 lb (112 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Joliet Catholic | ||||||||||||||
| College | Purdue (1992–1995) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1996: 2nd round, 35th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Michael Joseph Alstott (born December 21, 1973) is an American former professionalfullback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons with theTampa Bay Buccaneers. Nicknamed "A-Train", he is regarded as one of the greatest fullbacks of all time.
Alstott playedcollege football for thePurdue Boilermakers, earning third-teamAll-American honors in 1995, and was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the1996 NFL draft. He received sixPro Bowl and three first-teamAll-Pro selections, in addition to being a member of the Buccaneers team that won the franchise's firstSuper Bowl title inSuper Bowl XXXVII. For his accomplishments in Tampa Bay, he was inducted to theBuccaneers Ring of Honor in 2015.
Alstott attendedPurdue 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 untilKory 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.[1]
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| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft0+3⁄8 in (1.84 m) | 240 lb (109 kg) | 31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) | 9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) | 4.68 s | 1.65 s | 2.73 s | 4.16 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) | 24 reps | ||
| All values fromNFL Combine[2] | ||||||||||||
Alstott was selected in the second round (35th overall) of the1996 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[3] Prior to the draft, thePittsburgh Steelers were considered the favorites to draft Alstott as a possible replacement forBam Morris (and more long-termBarry Foster) following Morris'marijuana possession arrest, but were able to execute thedraft-day trade forJerome Bettis before the Steelers turn at 29th overall.[4] Both then-new Buccaneers head coachTony Dungy and Steelers head coachBill Cowher, coincidentally, were former assistants toMarty Schottenheimer and all three believed in strong running games.
The Buccaneers utilized Alstott primarily as a running fullback at a time when most NFL teams used their fullbacks as lead blockers. He was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that wonSuper Bowl XXXVII (2002), played atQualcomm Stadium inSan 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.[5]
Alstott signed a one-year contract to stay in Tampa Bay for the2005 season, and signed a similar contract at the conclusion of the2006 season after contemplating retirement. However, he spent all of the2007 season on injured reserve because of neck problems, leading to his retirement on January 24, 2008.[6]
In the summer of 2007, shortly before he suffered his season-ending and ultimately career-ending neck injury, Alstott appeared in atelevision commercial forESPN Fantasy Football along with former teammateWarrick Dunn, who was later signed by the Falcons.
He was ranked No. 10 on theNFL Network's "Top Ten Power Backs".
With 71 total touchdowns as a Buccaneer, Alstott broke the previous franchise record of 46 by running backJames 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 receiverMike Evans scored his 72nd TD as a Buccaneer.[7]
Rushing statistics
| 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 |
| Total | 158 | 137 | 1,359 | 5,088 | 3.7 | 47 | 58 | 324 | 23 | 19 | |
Receiving statistics
| 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 |
| Total | 158 | 137 | 305 | 2,284 | 7.5 | 44 | 13 | 113 | 9 | 6 | |
Alstott and his ex-wife, Nicole Alstott, have three children.[9] His son Griffin was a quarterback atWestern Michigan from 2018 to 2020, after spending the 2017 season atPurdue.[10]
