Charles Alexander

Charles Fred Alexander Jr. (born July 28, 1957) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football for the LSU Tigers and twice received consensus All-America honors, and he was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was a first-round pick in the 1979 NFL draft by the Bengals.

Early life Alexander was born in Galveston, Texas. He played football at Ball High School,

College career Alexander was recruited to Louisiana State University by running backs coach Jerry Stovall. He later recalled that Stovall offered him trust and a real chance to be a big-time running back. "As soon as I got here, I knew it was the place for me."

Alexander became the Tigers' starting running back in his junior season in 1977. Against Oregon, he scored four touchdowns and set a school record by rushing for 237 yards. —LSU fell to Stanford 24–14.

Alexander's workload dropped in his senior season in 1978, as the Tigers' offense became more balanced with fellow future LSU Athletic Hall of Famer David Woodley at quarterback. He and Woodley led the team to another 8–3 record. Toward the end of the season, Alexander was drawing comparisons to NFL running back Earl Campbell due to his "unique, slashing running style." He played his last game as a Tiger in the 1978 Liberty Bowl, in which he rushed for 133 yards on 24 carries in a 20–15 loss to Missouri. In each of his final two seasons with the Tigers, Alexander was selected as a consensus All-American and earned All-SEC honors. The 1977 campaign also saw Alexander selected as the SEC Most Valuable Player by the Nashville Banner. During his college career Alexander set nine SEC records, tied another and set 27 LSU records. He finished his LSU career with 4,035 rushing yards—over 1,500 yards more than the Tigers' previous career rushing yards leader. His 1,686 rushing yards total and 153.3 yards per game in the 1977 season stood as LSU single-season records until the 2015 season, when both were surpassed by Leonard Fournette.

Professional career Alexander was selected 12th overall in the first round of the 1979 draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. He spent the majority of his professional career backing up Pro Bowl running back Pete Johnson, while also splitting carries with former Heisman winner Archie Griffin. His most productive season came in 1980, during which he played in all 16 regular season games and carried the ball 169 times for 702 yards.

He played a prominent role during the Bengals' run in the 1981 playoffs. In their divisional round win against the Buffalo Bills, Alexander rushed for 72 yards and scored two touchdowns. He is one of four Bengals players to score multiple touchdowns from scrimmage in a single postseason game, as well as the first to do so. He rushed for 22 yards and caught three passes for 25 yards in the Bengals' win over San Diego in the infamous "Freezer Bowl." "Everything on the sidelines froze: the players, the water, the Gatorade, everything," said Alexander about the game conditions.

Alexander finished his career with 2,645 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns, while adding 165 receptions for 1,130 yards and two touchdowns.

Career statistics

NFL Legend Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Games Rushing Receiving GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1979 CIN 16 3 88 286 3.3 17 1 11 91 8.3 13 0 1980 CIN 16 16 169 702 4.2 37 2 36 192 5.3 23 0 1981 CIN 15 14 98 292 3.0 16 2 28 262 9.4 65 1 1982 CIN 9 9 64 207 3.2 18 1 14 85 6.1 14 1 1983 CIN 14 14 153 523 3.4 12 3 32 187 5.8 14 0 1984 CIN 16 12 132 479 3.6 22 2 29 203 7.0 22 0 1985 CIN 16 5 44 156 3.5 18 2 15 110 7.3 19 0 102 73 748 2,645 3.5 37 13 165 1,130 6.8 65 2

Playoffs Year Team Games Rushing Receiving GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD 1981 CIN 3 3 27 111 4.1 30 2 6 38 6.3 16 0 1982 CIN 1 1 7 14 2.0 6 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 4 4 34 125 3.7 30 2 6 38 6.3 16 0

College Legend Led the SEC SEC record Led the NCAA NCAA record Bold Career high

+College rushing & receiving statistics* Season Team GP Rushing Receiving Att Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg TD 1975 LSU 11 108 301 2.8 2 1 6 6.0 0 1976 LSU 11 155 876 5.7 7 8 82 10.3 0 1977 LSU 11 311 1,686 5.4 17 12 80 6.7 0 1978 LSU 11 281 1,172 4.2 14 28 263 9.4 2 Career 44 855 4,035 4.7 40 49 431 8.8 2 Includes bowl games.

Later life After retiring from the NFL, Alexander went into the oil and gas business. In 2012, he became the eighth former LSU football player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.