Leeland McElroy Leeland Anthony McElroy ( born June 25 , 1974 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back and kick returner in the National Football League ( NFL ) for two seasons during the 1990s . He played college football for Texas A & M University , and was recognized as an All - American kick returner . A second - round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft , he played professionally for the Arizona Cardinals . Early years . McElroy was born in Beaumont , Texas . He attended Central High School in Beaumont , and played high school football for the Beaumont Central Jaguars . College career . McElroy accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Texas A & M University , and played for the Texas A & M Aggies football team from 1992 to 1995 . In 1995 , McElroy became the undisputed starter — his only year to start at running back at A & M . A & M was coming off a 10 - 0 - 1 season and top - 10 ranking , with most of their starters returning for their upperclassmen years . Corey Pullig was a senior quarterback , McElroy was a Heisman Trophy candidate as a junior , and an experienced defense paved the way for Playboy and The Sporting News to rank A & M No . 1 in the preseason . The Aggies began the season with impressive wins over LSU ( in which McElroy ran for 229 yards , 5th in Aggie history for a single game ) and Tulsa , and took a # 3 ranking to Boulder to face the # 5 Colorado with A & M mounting a " ' Lectric Leeland " Heisman marketing campaign . McElroy played poorly and the Aggies lost a disappointing game . A & M tipped passes for interceptions , receiver Chris Sanders dropped a sure touchdown on a screen pass across a wide - open middle of the field , and future NFL fullback Detron Smith dropped a sure huge gain on a swing pass in the flat . Star linebacker Reggie Brown even blew a coverage at the end zone , giving up a circus - catch touchdown . Another poor performance followed , along with another Aggie loss against Texas Tech in Lubbock the following week . McElroy rushed for 1 , 122 yards ( 112 . 2 per game ) and 1709 all - purpose yards ( 2nd for a single season in Aggie history by just 30 yards ) that season , but completely missed two games and sat out parts of others as a result of injuries . The Aggies finished 9 - 3 with a win against Michigan in the Alamo Bowl , but with those two losses as well as a home loss to rival Texas , the season that began with National Championship hopes was considered a disappointment by Aggie fans . For McElroy , the injuries , along with several less than spectacular performances against Colorado , Texas Tech , Baylor and Houston , turned a season that began with Heisman hopes into a fall filled with frustration . After his junior season , McElroy declared early for the NFL draft . In spite of his spectacular junior year , injury concerns caused McElroy to drop in the draft . Although projected to be a first round pick , he instead holds the dubious distinction of being the lowest picked player to attend the NFL draft . McElroy was selected in second round in 1996 by the Arizona Cardinals at number thirty - two . He has become somewhat of a cautionary tale against football players leaving school early . Aggie head Coach R . C . Slocum and others speculated that if McElroy had returned in 1996 , he would have benefited from playing with a more prolific passer in Branndon Stewart and probably would have faced less eight - man defensive fronts . These factors along with the additional experience might have resulted in McElroy ' s Heisman hopes coming to fruition and his entering the draft a more seasoned , more complete back . In later interviews , McElroy would caution college players in his own mold against declaring for the draft when he said , " I ’ d tell them to evaluate the situation and consider every , every single option . The money is enticing , but nothing ’ s for sure at this level . I ’ m a prime example of that . " McElroy did make his mark at A & M and will always be fondly remembered by Aggie fans for his electrifying runs and returns . McElroy was a threat to take the football the length of the field every time he touched it . He was a first - team selection on the Football Writers Association of America All - America team in 1994 and was a first - team Associated Press All - American all - purpose back in 1995 . One of the fastest runners in college football history , McElroy set several NCAA records for kickoff returns in his career including most returns for a touchdown in one game and most returns for touchdowns in a single season . His final career average ( 36 . 3 ) set the NCAA record . He was a first - team selection on the Football Writers Association of America All - America team in 1994 . He holds the Texas A & M record for average all - purpose yards per game with 135 . He is also tied for the longest kickoff return in A & M history ( 100 yards , which he did twice ) . Professional career . The Arizona Cardinals selected McElroy in the second round ( Arizona ' s 2nd pick overall ) of the 1996 NFL Draft , and he played for the Cardinals from ( to ) . In his rookie NFL season , 1996 , McElroy started for the Cardinals in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts , rushing for 63 yards on 17 carries , but struggled in the second week against Miami , when he carried six times for negative five yards . The next week against New England , he had just 11 yards on eight carries , and against New Orleans in the fourth week of the season , McElroy was replaced in the lineup after gaining just five yards on four carries . LeShon Johnson took over the starting duties in week 5 , and McElroy was relegated to backup and special teams . Overall , McElroy had just 86 yards on 38 carries in the Cardinals ’ first seven games and finished with 305 yards on 89 carries . 1997 was not much better . McElroy opened the season as the Cardinals ' starting tailback and averaged 18 carries in the first five games . He scored both his touchdowns that year in the first two games and after rushing for 281 yards in the first five games , he managed just 143 the rest of the year . Although he led the Cardinals in rushing , he finished with just 424 yards on 135 carries - a paltry 3 . 14 yards per carry . After averaging 21 . 3 yards on 51 kickoff returns in 1996 , McElroy did not field a single kickoff in 1997 , surrendering those duties to Kevin Williams , who averaged 24 . 7 in his place . The Cardinals released McElroy and he was claimed off waivers in July 1998 by Tampa Bay , and made an instant impact with a spectacular touchdown run in the Hall of Fame Game against the Steelers . He played well , rushing 27 times for 121 yards and a TD in the preseason , but the Bucs were deep at running back and McElroy ' s specialty was kickoff returns , where Tampa already featured Reidel Anthony and Warrick Dunn . Tony Dungy said that " [ at that ] point it would be best to give him a chance to maybe hook on with someone else , and he had such an impressive preseason , [ they hoped ] for him for that to be the case . " Unfortunately it would not be so . Although he spent the 1999 preseason with the Denver Broncos and was picked up later that season by the Indianapolis Colts , a combination of injuries and misfortune ensured that McElroy never played again in the NFL .