Rob Carpenter (running back)

For the American football wide receiver, see Rob Carpenter (wide receiver).

Rob Carpenter

No. 26, 38
Date of birth	(1955-04-20) April 20, 1955
Place of birth	Lancaster, Ohio
Career information
Position(s)	Running back
US college	Miami (OH)
NFL draft	1977 / round: 3 / pick: 84
Career history
As player
1977–1981	Houston Oilers
1981–1985	New York Giants
1986	Los Angeles Rams
Career stats
Playing stats at NFL.com Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Robert Joseph Carpenter, Jr. (born April 20, 1955 in Lancaster, Ohio) is a former American football running back who played 10 seasons in the National Football League. He is the father of linebacker Bobby Carpenter, former University of Cincinnati linebacker Johnathan Carpenter, former Marshall University linebacker George Carpenter, and former Ohio defensive back Nathan Carpenter. He currently resides in Lancaster, Ohio and is a teacher and head coach of the Lancaster High School football team.

College career

Carpenter played for the Miami Redskins from 1973-1976, where he was a three-year letterman. He played for two Mid-American Conference championship teams in 1974 and 1975. In his final two seasons, he made first team All-MAC, and was an honorable mention on the College Football All-America Team, rushing for 1,142 yards as a Junior and 1,064 yards as a senior. In four seasons for the Redhawks, Carpenter rushed for 2,909 yards and 28 touchdowns, while also catching 35 passes for 315 yards and two more scores. Carpenter was inducted into Miami's athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.

NFL career

Carpenter was selected by the Houston Oilers in the third round of the 1977 draft. After a solid 652-yard rushing season as a rookie, Carpenter spent most of his next three seasons as a blocking fullback for Houston's new star running back Earl Campbell, though he still managed to rush for over 340 yards in each one. In a 1979 divisional playoff game against the San Diego Chargers, Carpenter filled in for an injured Campbell, leading the team in rushing with 67 yards while also catching 4 passes for 23 in a 17-14 upset victory, despite being barely recovered from a knee injury himself. In 1981, Carpenter was traded to the New York Giants after week 4 for a third round draft pick. He went on to have the best season of his career, rushing for a career high 822 yards, including four 100-yard games, before going on to lead the Giants to their first playoff victory in decades, carrying the ball 33 times for a franchise postseason record 161 yards while also catching four passes for 32 in a 27-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Carpenter called the game "the greatest football day of my life". Carpenter went on to rush for 61 yards and catch 3 passes for 18 in New York's loss to San Francisco in the following week. He continued playing for the Giants until 1985. Then after spending 1986 with the Los Angeles Rams, Carpenter retired with 6,070 career yards from scrimmage and 34 touchdowns.