Mike Rozier
Mike Rozier was a star running back at Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden in the late 1970s, before going on to a great college career at the University of Nebraska. Twenty years after he left Nebraska, Mike Rozier owns both the Nebraska all-time rushing and scoring records, yet it is possible that he might never have gone west to Lincoln had not Nebraska assistant Frank Solich been such a keen observer of high school game films. Solich was studying movies of another player in Rozier's hometown of Camden, New Jersey. "Mike kept sticking out on the film," Solich remembers. Rozier was a Wishbone fullback in high school, yet still managed to gain 300 yards in a single game. He didn't miss that mark by much against Kansas late in the season, when he rambled for 285 yards and registered four touchdowns in another monster-score win for Nebraska. All through the year, Rozier maintained an average of nearly eight yards every time he carried the ball. "He's a super prospect," says Gil Brandt, Vice President of the Dallas Cowboys in charge of player personnel, and one of the finest judges of football talent. "He has everything it takes to be a successful pro running back." Mike Rozier takes such praise the way he takes an opposing defense — in stride. "God gave me this gift. I just do the best I can to use it," he says. Rozier won the 1983 Heisman Trophy, college football's highest award.
Mike Rozier played for the Pittsburgh Maulers in the USFL in 1984, and the Jacksonville Bulls in 1985 in the same league. Rozier was the second Heisman Trophy winner to sign with the USFL. Rozier suffered through a tough rookie season with the new expansion team the Pittsburgh Maulers, running for 792 yards on 223 attempts with 3 touchdowns. Mike considered leaving the USFL following his first season in Pittsburgh, but decided to join the Jacksonville Bulls and fellow Heisman winner Archie Griffin in a vaunted backfield. Mike excelled in his sophomore season to run 320 times for 1,361 yards and an impressive 12 touchdowns for the Bulls.
The Houston Oilers chose Mike in the supplemental draft in 1984 where he played for seven years, during which time he was a Pro Bowl selection twice, in 1987 and 1988. He finished his NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons in 1991.
The football stadium in back of Woodrow Wilson High School has been renamed Mike Rozier Stadium, in his honor.
NFL Statistics
Mike Rozier — NFL Regular Season
Career Totals
| year | team | games | attempts | rush yards | yards per attempt | rush td | receptions | rec yards | yards per rec | rec td |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Hou | 14 | 133 | 462 | 3.5 | 8 | 9 | 96 | 10.7 | 0 |
| 1986 | Hou | 13 | 199 | 662 | 3.3 | 4 | 24 | 180 | 7.5 | 0 |
| 1987 | Hou | 11 | 229 | 957 | 4.2 | 3 | 27 | 192 | 7.1 | 0 |
| 1988 | Hou | 15 | 251 | 1002 | 4.0 | 10 | 11 | 99 | 9.0 | 1 |
| 1989 | Hou | 12 | 88 | 301 | 3.4 | 2 | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 |
| 1990 | Atl | 13 | 153 | 675 | 4.4 | 3 | 8 | 59 | 7.4 | 0 |
| 1990 | Hou | 3 | 10 | 42 | 4.2 | 0 | 5 | 46 | 9.2 | 0 |
| 1991 | Atl | 11 | 96 | 361 | 3.8 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 |
| TOTAL | — | 92 | 1159 | 4462 | 3.8 | 30 | 90 | 715 | 7.9 | 1 |
Mike Rozier — NFL Postseason
Postseason Data
| year | opponent | result | rush | rush yards | rush td | receptions | rec yards | rec td |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Sea | W, 23–20 | 21 | 66 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 1987 | Den | L, 10–34 | 9 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 1988 | Buf | L, 10–17 | 13 | 44 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1989 | Pit | L, 23–26 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 1991 | Nor | W, 27–20 | 7 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTAL | — | — | 55 | 182 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 0 |
Seasons Among the League's Top 10
- Rushes: 1987–5th, 1988–8th
- Rushing yards: 1987–4th
- Rushing TDs: 1988–6th (tied)
- Yards from scrimmage: 1987–8th
'Regular guy' shares experiences of his life growing up in Camden
Camden Courier-Post — December 13, 2007. By Matt Katz.
The Brimm Medical Arts High School freshmen couldn't relate to the $7 million starting salary, or being on TV every Saturday or getting inducted into not one but two halls of fame.
But they could relate to growing up in Camden, having pride in Camden and dealing with the line of fire in Camden.
Mike Rozier, 46, the Camden native and star Woodrow Wilson High School running back who won college football's top honor, the Heisman Trophy, in 1982 — before playing for two NFL teams during a 10-year career — returned to the city last month to speak to the Exposures class at Brimm.
He shared both the glory of the football high life and his personal experiences with the pitfalls of Camden. Eleven years ago, after retiring from the NFL, Rozier was shot four times outside a housing development in Camden while visiting a boyhood friend.
The friend, who was also shot, had robbed the gunman a few years earlier, Rozier said, and Rozier got caught in the middle of the revenge shooting. Both victims were only wounded, but Rozier's friend was killed a few years later in another gun battle.
He used the incident as an allegory to tell the students to figure out what they want to do in life, and then "prepare yourself for it."
"If some of ya'll don't get along with your parents, suck it up, find a teacher, a neighbor that you can look up to and talk to," he said.
The Exposures class at Brimm is intended to expose students to people involved in the community who might be able to help with character building.
Rozier, who now speaks to students as a full-time occupation, talked about growing up in East Camden and sharing a bedroom with two of his six brothers. He also remembered how the principal at Woodrow Wilson helped keep students in line with a paddle named Betsy.
He acknowledged that he wasn't a good student, and he had "lots of tutors" at the University of Nebraska, where he starred as a running back.
Once a household name in Camden, most of the students at Brimm didn't know who Rozier was before the class started. So Rozier modestly filled them in, even though he omitted certain accolades, like the fact that Woodrow Wilson's football stadium is named Mike Rozier Field.
"I'm from here, I still walk around here," he said. "I probably know half your uncles and your aunts."
The students, who had to summarize his speech for a class assignment, seemed to understand where he was coming from.
"It did help that he was from Camden because he knew what it's like," said student Lakira Williams.
At the start of the speech, Rozier turned down an offer to use a podium.
"I don't need a podium," he said. "I'm just a regular guy from Camden."
The Camden Courier-Post account of the 1979 Woodrow Wilson–Camden Thanksgiving Day game, at which Rozier was a player, is published separately as 25 Years Later, Prep Football Game Shootout Resonates.
Tag: mike-rozier
25 Years Later, Prep Football Game Shootout Resonates
By Kevin Callahan Although he would rise to the pinnacle of college football just four years later by winning the Heisman Trophy, Mike Rozier 's last play for Woodrow Wilson High School was spent looking down in the dirt on the field that would later bear his name.