Background and career
Darren Deon McFadden (born August 27, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the first round with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NFL draft. McFadden also played three seasons for the Dallas Cowboys. At Arkansas, McFadden had a decorated career, twice finishing as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and as a consensus member of the All-American team. He was highly touted coming out of school, and was picked fourth overall by the Raiders. McFadden struggled with consistency through his professional career, only rushing for over 1,000 yards twice and never started all 16 games of a season. McFadden retired midway through the 2017 NFL season, and was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
McFadden was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on August 27, 1987, to Grayton McFadden and Mini Muhammad. The tenth of 12 children, he encountered hardships in his early life with some members of his family, including his mother, having addictions to drugs. McFadden attended Oak Grove High School in North Little Rock, where he was a three-sport star in football, baseball, and track. McFadden played a variety of positions for his football team, but was primarily used as a running back on offense, and a safety on defense. In track & field, he competed as a sprinter and was timed at 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash. As a senior, McFadden was a Parade magazine high school All-American in 2004, as well as the Arkansas High School player of the year for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Following his senior year, McFadden was awarded the prestigious Landers Award, given every year to the top player in the state of Arkansas. He was ranked the number 23 player in the nation by Rivals.com and the number three athlete, and was given a five star rating, the highest star rating. McFadden was a highly recruited prospect, and while he garnered interest from many schools around the Deep South including Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn, McFadden chose to end the recruiting process early and attend the University of Arkansas.
McFadden received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Arkansas, where he was a standout running back for coach Houston Nutt's Arkansas Razorbacks football team from 2005 to 2007.
McFadden made his Arkansas debut on September 3, recording nine carries for 70 yards and a touchdown in a victory over Missouri State in the team's first game. On October 8, McFadden had 11 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns in a win over Louisiana-Monroe. In the next game against Auburn, he rushed 13 times for 108 yards and two touchdowns. McFadden had 31 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns on the road against Georgia. He followed the Georgia game with a 32-carry, 187-yard effort against South Carolina. Two weeks later against Mississippi State, McFadden had 21 carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. He completed his first pass in a Razorback uniform in the game against LSU, when he completed a pass to Marcus Monk for 13 yards. McFadden was an integral part of an Arkansas offense that ended up going 4–7 with close losses to Georgia and LSU. In 2005, his true freshman season, McFadden rushed 176 times for 1,113 yards and 11 touchdowns. McFadden ended the season with the most yards a freshman running back had ever gained in an Arkansas uniform, and became only the seventh Southeastern Conference player to rush over 1,000 yards as a freshman. He was recognized at the end of the season as Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Year honors by both the SEC Media as well as SEC coaches. McFadden also garnered Freshman All-American nods, and was named as Newcomer of the Year for the Southeastern Conference by ESPN. He continued through spring practice early the next year as the number one running back on the Razorback depth chart, a spot he never relinquished while on campus.
In 2006, despite a slow start to the season due to a dislocated toe from an off the field incident at a night club in Little Rock, McFadden rushed for a school-record 1,647 yards, the fifth best all-time in the SEC for single season yards, scored 14 touchdowns, and threw for three more touchdowns on just nine passing attempts, becoming a first-team All-American. He had four games on the season going over 180 rushing yards and four games with multiple rushing touchdowns. McFadden attained a new career high for yards in a single game in his 219-yard performance in a 26–20 win against South Carolina. Thanks to his efforts, Arkansas streaked to ten wins and the SEC Western Division Championship, but lost to Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl on January 1, 2007, and finished with a 10–4 record. On December 6, 2006, McFadden was named one of three finalists for the Heisman Trophy, along with Troy Smith from Ohio State and Brady Quinn from Notre Dame. In the final 2006 Heisman vote, McFadden placed second with 878 points, 1,662 points behind Smith (2,540 points) and ahead of Quinn (782 points), in what is considered by many pundits to be one of the biggest Heisman snubs in history. On December 7, McFadden became the first sophomore to win the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back. He was also the winner of Jim Brown Trophy in 2006. McFadden was a consensus All-America choice, making the vast majority of teams selected. He won SEC Offensive Player of the Year. McFadden surpassed Madre Hill as the record holder for most rushing yards in a season at the University of Arkansas in 2006. He was also the centerpiece of the "Wildhog formation," an offensive formation wherein McFadden usually lined up at quarterback position. McFadden often played quarterback in high school, and in the Wildcat formation, he was a threat to throw the ball, to run the ball, or to hand off to another player.
Before the 2007 season, McFadden was believed to be one of the top NFL draft picks after the season if he declared for the 2008 NFL draft. On Sports Illustrated's website, a photo gallery chronicling the best possible candidates in the 2008 draft he was tipped as the number one pick. McFadden was also predicted to be a front-runner for many awards, including the Doak Walker, the Maxwell, and the Walter Camp Player of the Year. McFadden began the 2007 season with five consecutive games in which he gained at least 120 yards. Highlighting these were a 195-yard effort against Alabama, a 151-yard game against Troy, and a 173-yard effort against Kentucky. After this stretch of games, McFadden looked to be a lock for the Heisman Trophy, at the top of generally every watch list. On November 3, 2007, he tied the Southeastern Conference single-game rushing record held by former Vanderbilt Commodores running back Frank Mordica's 1978 game total versus the Air Force Falcons with 321 yards rushing against South Carolina. On November 23, McFadden led Arkansas to a 50–48 triple overtime victory over the #1-ranked LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, winning the Battle for the Golden Boot for Arkansas. He rushed 32 times for 206 yards and three touchdowns, and completed three of six passes for 34 yards and a touchdown. After Arkansas lost 38–7 to Missouri in the January 1, 2008 Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, Texas, McFadden decided to forgo his senior season and declare for the 2008 NFL draft.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
