Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
McFadden enjoys career resurgence
Darren McFadden enjoyed a career resurgence with the Dallas Cowboys in 2015.
The former Pulaski Oak Grove and Arkansas Razorback running back rushed for more than 1,000 yards for the second time in his eight-year NFL career. McFadden was fourth in the league in rushing yards with 1,089 rushing yards, and he
scored three touchdowns.
“I was very proud of the things I did personally,” said McFadden, who signed with the Cowboys in 2015
spending his first seven seasons with the Oakland Raiders. “I was able to go out and show people I was Darren McFadden and run the ball the way I could previously. But I want to come back next year and get better.”
McFadden, 28, was in Little Rock on Thursday night as the special guest at the Little Rock Touchdown Club’s annual banquet at the Embassy Suites. The banquet honored collegiate and high school players and coaches in the state of Arkansas.
McFadden is no stranger himself to being honored at the Touchdown Club; he was the Class 4A MVP at Oak Grove for the 2004 season and a three-time player of the year winner for Arkansas in 2005-2007.
In his eighth season in the NFL, McFadden took over the starting running back job from Joseph Randle in Week 7 and had five 100-yard games, including a season-best 152 yards against the New York Giants on Oct. 25. He also had at least 100 yards against the Philadelphia Eagles (117), Miami Dolphins (129), Green Bay Packers (111) and New York Jets (100).
McFadden was the seventh player in Cowboys history to rush for at least 1,000 yards, joining Emmitt Smith, Tony Dorsett, Calvin Hill, Herschel Walker, DeMarco Murray and Julius Jones.
Despite dealing with numerous injuries in his career, including his foot and hamstring, McFadden has played 16 games for two consecutive seasons. He had never played all 16 games in a season until 2014, his final one with the Raiders.
“The older you get, the more you have to take care of your body,” McFadden said. “You get done working out, you may not skip that 10-minute stretch session, or you may decide not to eat that fried food. You just want to take care of your body. You get older and you mature more.”
Entering this year’s NFL Draft in April, former Arkansas running back Alex Collins has a pedigree similar to McFadden’s. Collins finished his college career with 3,703 yards, second all-time at Arkansas history behind McFadden’s 4,590 yards. McFadden had some advice for Collins as he prepares for the NFL.
“You have to go into it with a focus,” McFadden said. “You’re working hard and you’re grinding. I just worked hard and grinded. Come draft day, I was blessed to be able to go to Oakland in the top five.”
McFadden had a solid individual season, but the Cowboys were plagued by injuries to quarterback Tony Romo (collarbone) and wide receiver Dez Bryant (foot, knee) en route to a 4-12 record and last-place finish in the NFC East.
Dallas played with four quarterbacks in 2015 — Romo, Brandon Weeden, Matt Cassel and Kellen Moore. McFadden played with Romo in only one full game, at Miami on Nov. 22, before Romo was injured the next game against eventual NFC champion Carolina on Thanksgiving Day.
McFadden hopes for better team success in 2016 with a healthy Romo and Bryant.
“I expect them to be back, 100 percent, ready to go,” McFadden said. “I don’t have any questions about the team going into the season. I’m looking forward to it. As long as everybody stays healthy, I feel like the sky’s the limit for us.”