Marcel Shipp Marcel Cornelius Shipp ( born August 8 , 1978 in Paterson , New Jersey ) is an American football running back . He played in the NFL from 2001 - 2008 for the Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans . He was signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2001 , and played with them through the 2007 season . He was signed for a short time by the Texans in 2008 . He played college football at Massachusetts . Early years . Shipp played high school football at the Passaic County Technical Institute in Wayne , New Jersey . Shipp rushed for 1 , 510 yards and 24 touchdowns as a senior to earn First Team All - State honors . He is considered to be one of the greatest New Jersey high school running backs of all time . College years . Shipp attended UMass and was a letterman in football . As a sophomore , he was a first team All - America selection , having run for a school - record 2 , 542 yards and 18 touchdowns . He capped the season by rushing for 244 yards and three scores in UMass ' improbable 55 - 43 victory over Georgia Southern in the Division I - AA national championship game . As a junior , he was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award , and added another school record - 24 rushing touchdowns - to his resume to go with 1 , 846 rushing yards . Shipp finished his career with 5 , 383 rushing yards , which currently ranks sixth on the Division I - AA football career record list . Professional career . Arizona Cardinals . He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals on April 23 , 2001 . He made the team but played little in 2001 , not getting a single rushing attempt . He did return 6 kickoffs . In 2002 Shipp would see many more opportunities . He had his breakout game in a Week 4 win against the New York Giants when he rushed for 92 yards on 17 carries and scored two touchdowns . In Week 11 he rushed for a season high 135 yards and a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders . He finished the year with a team leading 834 rushing yards on 188 carries ( 4 . 4 yards per carry ) and 9 total touchdowns . At the beginning of the 2003 season Shipp ' s status was somewhat unclear as the team had signed Emmitt Smith in the offseason . Despite Smith ' s presence Shipp again led the team in rushing with 830 yards on the season . His yards per carry went down to 3 . 6 however and he did not score a touchdown . He rushed for a career high 165 yards against the San Francisco 49ers in a Week 7 win . In training camp 2004 Shipp suffered a serious knee injury and was forced to miss the entire 2004 season . He did not play at all that year . Following the missed 2004 season Shipp still remained with the Cardinals . In 2005 he was again the Cardinals ' leading rusher , but this time with only 451 yards on 157 carries , for 2 . 9 yards per carry . In 2006 Shipp saw much less action , as the Cardinals had signed Edgerrin James . He rushed 17 times for 41 yards . He did have 4 touchdowns , scoring for the first time since 2002 , including 3 touchdowns in one game on December 3 against the St . Louis Rams . In 2007 he had limited duty again , with 15 carries for 41 yards , still backing up James . In 2008 , Shipp signed a 3 year contract with the Cardinals . However , he was released by the team on August 4 . Houston Texans . On August 18 , 2008 , Shipp agreed to terms with the Houston Texans but was released on August 29 . His career NFL stats are 605 rushes for 2197 yards ( 3 . 6 yards per carry ) and 11 rushing touchdowns . He has 109 receptions for 912 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns . Las Vegas Locomotives . Shipp signed with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League on August 25 , 2009 . He finished the 2009 UFL season with 72 carries for 257 rushing yards , good for fourth in the league . Shipp ' s Locomotives defeated the Florida Tuskers 20 - 17 in overtime to win the inaugural UFL championship game . Shipp returned with the team for the 2010 season . The Locomotives won a second straight championship again defeating the Tuskers in the championship game . Shipp finished the regular season with 313 rushing yards ( 5th in the league ) on 117 carries and four rushing touchdowns ( tied for second in the league ) . In the championship game he had 16 carries for 43 yards . In 2011 Shipp remained with the Locomotives for a third season , despite the UFL ' s continued financial problems . In only a four team league , the Locomotives went 3 - 1 with Shipp as their leading rusher . Shipp gained 164 yards on 49 carries and scored two touchdowns . The Locomotives did not win their third straight championship as they lost in the title game 17 - 3 to the Virginia Destroyers .