C . J . Spiller Clifford " C . J . " Spiller , Jr . ( born August 5 , 1987 ) is an American football running back for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He played college football for Clemson University and was recognized as an All - American . The Buffalo Bills drafted him as the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft . Early years . Spiller was born in Lake Butler , Florida . He attended Union County High School ( Florida ) in Lake Butler , where he excelled at track , as well as football . At Union County High School , Spiller played along fellow Clemson teammate , Kevin Alexander . During his senior year at Union County , he rushed for 1 , 840 – yards on 176 carries for 30 touchdowns . He also had fifteen receptions for 249 yards . In his entire high school career , Spiller rushed for 5 , 511 yards on 541 carries . College career . Spiller received an athletic scholarship to attend Clemson University , where he played for the Clemson Tigers football team from 2006 to 2009 . Freshman . As a true freshman , Spiller immediately made himself known to the Clemson fans . In the season , he rushed for 938 yards and ten touchdowns on 129 rushes , despite being the second - team running back behind James Davis . He scored his first collegiate touchdown in a 34 – 33 overtime loss to Boston College on an 82 – yard touchdown reception from quarterback Will Proctor . After struggling versus Florida State the following week , Spiller turned it around against North Carolina by rushing for fifty - eight yards and two touchdowns in a 52 – 7 rout of the Tarheels . In the following weeks , Spiller had two triple - digit rushing games as the Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech and Wake Forest . Against Louisiana Tech , he rushed for 127 – yards and two touchdowns on eleven attempts , in a 51 – 0 rout of the Bulldogs , in which the entire Clemson team rushed for 393 – yards . In a Gameday - featured game vs . 13th ranked Georgia Tech , Spiller rushed for 116 yards , including a 50 - yard touchdown run , as well as catching a 50 - yard swing pass touchdown en route to the Tigers 31 - 7 win . Clemson finished the season with a 8 – 5 overall record , losing four of their final five games , including a 31 - 28 loss to archrival South Carolina , and ended the season in a 28 – 20 Music City Bowl loss to the Kentucky Wildcats . Spiller rushed for only twenty - four yards on five attempts in the loss . Sophomore . In his second season for the Tigers , Spiller had a less productive rushing season with only 768 – yards and three touchdowns . He did , however , gain more receiving yards , with 271 – yards and two additional touchdowns . In the opening three games of the season , Spiller rushed for only eighty - five yards , including a career - worst – 1 – yards in a 38 – 10 victory over Furman . In a 13 – 3 loss , he was again stopped by the Georgia Tech defense , rushing for only two yards . His best statistical game came against rivals South Carolina , which Clemson won 23 – 21 . Spiller ran for a team - high 122 yards on twenty - three attempts in the victory . In the team ' s bowl game , he rushed for 112 – yards on eight attempts , including one touchdown , in a 23 – 20 loss to Auburn in the Chick - fil - A Bowl . Junior . With Spiller and fellow running back James Davis , the Clemson Tigers were favored to win the opening game of their 2008 season against the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Chick - fil - A College Kickoff . However , a stingy Alabama defense held Spiller to just seven yards on two attempts . He did score though , on a kickoff return for a touchdown . In his second game , however , he rushed for seventy - five yards on six carries , which included three touchdowns in a 45 – 17 victory over The Citadel . Against Virginia later that year , Spiller threw first career touchdown on a trick play . On January 15 , 2009 , he announced that he would remain for his senior year at Clemson instead of entering the 2009 NFL Draft . Senior . In the Tigers ' 40 – 24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7 , 2009 , Spiller and Jacoby Ford became the leading all - purpose duo in NCAA history ( a record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State ) . On November 28 , 2009 , Spiller set the FBS record for kickoff return touchdowns with seven during his career . He also earned his spot in the record books in another way on that kickoff return , by being one of five players to ever gain 7 , 000 all - purpose yards . Spiller was one of the three finalists for the 2009 Doak Walker Award , and placed sixth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy . Spiller was selected for the All - Atlantic Coast Conference ( ACC ) first team , and was voted the ACC Player of the Year by the members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association . He was also recognized as a unanimous first - team All - American . He was the nation ' s only player that season to account for touchdowns five different ways — rushing , passing , receiving , and on kick and punt returns — and had passing , rushing and receiving touchdowns in one game , a victory against North Carolina State , a first for a player in Clemson history . He returned four kickoffs and a punt for scores that year and had eight total returns for touchdowns during his career . He scored at least once in every game that season while leading Clemson to the Atlantic Division title and a spot in the league title game against Georgia Tech . Spiller led the ACC with an average of nearly 184 all - purpose yards and was the league ' s fourth - leading rusher , averaging 76 yards . Spiller graduated from Clemson in December 2009 , becoming the first person in his family to receive a four - year college degree . Also , Clemson retired his No . 28 in recognition of his college career . Spiller was the only player in the FBS to score a touchdown in every game in the 2009 season . Track and field . While at Union County High School ( Florida ) , Spiller posted the fourth fastest time in the nation over 100 meters in his senior year , with a time of 10 . 42 seconds in the 100 meters . Spiller also ran track and field at Clemson University , where he posted personal bests of 10 . 22 seconds and 20 . 91 seconds in the 100 meters and 200 meters , respectively . He also competed in the 60 meters , posting a personal best of 6 . 65 seconds . Professional career . 2010 NFL Draft . Despite being projected as a first - round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft , Spiller decided to return for his senior season in January 2009 . He was projected as a first - round draft choice in the 2010 NFL Draft and was listed as the No . 1 running back of the 2010 class by ESPN . Spiller was selected 9th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills . He was the highest drafted Clemson player since Banks McFadden ( 1940 NFL Draft ) and Gaines Adams ( 2007 NFL Draft ) , both of whom went fourth overall . Buffalo Bills . On August 6 , 2010 Spiller signed a five year $ 25 million deal ( $ 20 . 8M guaranteed ) . Rookie season . On August 19 , 2010 , Spiller ran 31 yards for his first NFL touchdown in week two of the preseason at the Rogers Centre in Toronto , Canada against the Indianapolis Colts . Spiller finished the 2010 preseason with 26 carries for 122 yards ( 4 . 69 average per carry ) and three touchdowns . He also caught three passes for 35 yards . Spiller was named the # 1 running back on Buffalo ' s final depth chart , ahead of the recently injured Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson . Lynch was later traded to the Seattle Seahawks . On September 12 , 2010 , Spiller played his first career NFL game in a home loss against the Miami Dolphins . Spiller was named Special Teams player of the week for September 26 , 2010 for a 95 yard touchdown return against the New England Patriots . Spiller also had a touchdown off a pass by Ryan Fitzpatrick . However , his rookie season was marked with disappointment as he scored no rushing touchdowns and accumulated fewer yards than running backs taken after him in the draft , including Ryan Mathews , Jahvid Best , and Toby Gerhart . 2011 season . In 2011 it was announced that Spiller would trade numbers with Leodis McKelvin , receiving the number 28 in exchange for the number 21 . Spiller wore number 28 at Clemson . Heading into Week 12 , Spiller hadn ' t gotten as much action as the Bills were planning on because of the Pro Bowl caliber season that Fred Jackson was having , but Jackson was then placed on injured reserve , meaning Spiller would finally get his opportunity and become the Bills ' starting running back for the rest of the season . In a Week 16 home game against the Denver Broncos on December 24 , 2011 , Spiller had the first 100 - yard rushing game of his NFL career , rushing 16 times for 111 yards and a touchdown in a 40 - 14 win for the Bills . Spiller finished the year with 561 yards on 107 carries , with 4 rushing touchdowns and a 5 . 2 yards / carry average . He also recorded 39 receptions for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns . 2012 season . With Fred Jackson once again missing time due to injuries , Spiller took advantage of the opportunity to have a career year . In Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks , Spiller reached the 1 , 000 yards rushing mark for the first time in his NFL career . He also only needed 154 carries to reach the mark - the fewest carries to 1 , 000 yards since Chicago Bears running back Beattie Feathers in 1934 . Spiller rushed for 1 , 244 yards on only 207 carries and scored 6 touchdowns ; his ( 6 . 009 ) yards per carry average ( YPC ) was second to Adrian Peterson ' s ( 6 . 025 ) . He also caught 43 passes for 459 yards with two receiving touchdowns . Spiller was also elected to be in the Pro Bowl as an alternate for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice , who participated in the Super Bowl . Personal life . On August 27 , 2013 , Spiller took temporary leave from active status with Bills to be with his family after the murder – suicide by his step - grandfather Hubert Allen , Jr .