Montee Ball Montee Ball , Jr . ( born December 5 , 1990 ) is an American football running back for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League ( NFL ) . Ball played college football for the University of Wisconsin , was twice recognized as the best running back in the Big Ten Conference and a consensus first - team All - American . He currently holds the NCAA Division I - FBS record for most career rushing touchdowns with 77 and the NCAA Division I FBS record for most career total touchdowns with 83 . The Denver Broncos selected him in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft . Early years . Ball was born in McPherson , Kansas . He went to Wentzville Timberland High School in Wentzville , Missouri , and played high school football for the Timberland Wolves . He was ranked as the number 33 running back in the nation and fourth - best player in Missouri by Rivals . com . He was named first - team all - state , all - metro , all - district and all - conference as a senior . As a senior , Ball carried the ball 213 times for 2 , 187 yards and 41 touchdowns . As a junior , Ball was named player of the year ( St . Louis American ) , first - team all - state , all - metro , all - district and all - conference after putting up 358 carries for 3 , 077 yards and 32 touchdowns , and was recognized in " Sports Illustrated " magazine ' s " Faces in the Crowd " section . As a sophomore , Ball was named first - team all - district and all - conference after carrying the ball 297 times for 1 , 845 yards and 15 touchdowns . As a freshman , Ball had 1 , 113 yards on 127 carries with 19 touchdowns . Ball was a team captain and team MVP as a sophomore , junior and senior . He holds the Wentzville school district rushing records with career totals of 995 carries , 8 , 222 yards , 107 touchdowns and an average of 8 . 26 yards per carry . Ball was also named to the all - academic list three times and was a two - time letterwinner in basketball . College career . Ball enrolled in the University of Wisconsin , where he played for the Wisconsin Badgers football team from 2009 to 2012 . 2009 . As a freshman , Ball played in 9 of the 13 games and finished second on the team in rushing yards ( 391 ) , rushing touchdowns ( 4 ) and rushing attempts ( 98 ) . 2010 . Ball played in 12 games including starts in the final four games . Ball began the 2010 season as the backup running back to John Clay , the 2009 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year . Clay was somewhat limited in 2010 as he nursed offseason ankle surgery and later an MCL injury , so Ball gained a prominent role in the Badgers offense , along with freshman back James White . Ball led the team in rushing touchdowns , ranked second in rushing attempts and scoring , third in rushing yards and all purpose yards and fourth in total offense . His 18 rushing touchdowns are tied for fourth - most in a single season and his 6 . 11 yards per carry is sixth - best in one season at UW . Ball also scored 108 points on the season which ties for sixth - most UW annuals . At the end of the season , Ball was named consensus honorable mention All - Big Ten . 2011 . Ball played and started in all 14 games . On October 15 , 2011 , Ball was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after throwing a 25 - yard TD pass and scoring three rushing touchdowns with 142 yards rushing , including a career long 54 - yard rush , on 14 carries and 46 yards receiving on one catch against Indiana . On November 5 , 2011 , Ball was named Big Ten Player of the Week after rushing for a career high 223 yards against the Purdue Boilermakers . During that game , Ball scored four touchdowns ( three rushing and one receiving ) which gave him 146 total points scored on the season . This broke Brian Calhoun ' s school record for total points in a single season of 144 . On November 12 , 2011 , Ball broke the single season Big Ten Conference record for touchdowns by rushing for two and receiving one against the Minnesota . Ball had 27 touchdowns ( 23 rushing and 4 receiving ) at the end of that game . The previous record of 26 was held by Ohio State ' s Pete Johnson ( 1975 ) , Indiana ' s Anthony Thompson ( 1988 ) and Penn State ' s Ki - Jana Carter ( 1994 ) . On November 19 , 2011 , against Illinois , Ball ran for a career high 224 yards and two touchdowns on a career high 38 carries . He also added a receiving TD and became just the fifth player in NCAA Division I FBS history to score 30 touchdowns in a single season . On November 26 , 2011 , Ball scored four touchdowns against Penn State , and four more in the Big Ten Championship game one week later giving Ball 38 total touchdowns on the season which is 2nd all - time in FBS . He trails Oklahoma State ' s Barry Sanders who scored 39 touchdowns in 1988 . Ball was one of three finalists for the 2011 Doak Walker Award joining Oregon ' s LaMichael James and Alabama ' s Trent Richardson . The award was given to Alabama ' s Trent Richardson . Ball was named First Team All - Big Ten , by both the coaches and media , at the conclusion of the 2011 regular season . Ball was also the winner of two other Big Ten awards . The Graham - George Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year award which was renamed in 2011 after of Northwestern ' s Otto Graham and Ohio State ' s Eddie George and the Ameche - Dayne Big Ten Running Back of the Year award which was also renamed in 2011 after Wisconsin ' s Alan Ameche and Ron Dayne . On December 5 , 2011 , Ball was named one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy . He is joined by Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III , Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck , LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu and Alabama running back Trent Richardson . On the same day , Ball was named All - American by AFCA joining teammates Peter Konz and Kevin Zeitler . Ball was also named All - American by CBS again joined by teammate Peter Konz . On December 8 , 2011 , Ball was named First Team All - American by Yahoo Sports . Ball ' s teammates Peter Konz and Kevin Zeitler were named to the Second Team and quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Chris Borland was named to the Third Team . On December 10 , 2011 , Ball was one of five finalists invited to New York City for the presentation of the Heisman Trophy . He finished fourth in the voting with 348 points ( 22 - 1st place , 83 - 2nd place and 116 - 3rd place points ) . Ball ' s fourth place finish was the highest in Wisconsin history for a non - winner of the award . Ball was joined by teammate Russell Wilson who also received votes , Wilson finished ninth with 52 points . Baylor ' s Robert Griffin III won the award . On January 2 , 2012 , Ball scored his 39th touchdown of the season tying him with Barry Sanders for most touchdowns in a single FBS season . On January 5 , 2012 , Ball announced he would return for his senior year with the UW Badgers rather than entering the 2012 NFL Draft . 2012 . On October 13 , 2012 , Ball scored three rushing touchdowns against Purdue giving Ball a career total of 72 touchdowns . Ball ' s total of 72 touchdowns broke the Big Ten record and the Wisconsin record of 71 held by former Badgers running back Ron Dayne . He also ran for a career high of 247 yards against the Boilermakers . On November 17 , 2012 , Montee scored on a 7 yard run in the second quarter against Ohio State tying Travis Prentice with an NCAA record 78 career touchdowns . On November 24 , 2012 , Ball became the FBS career record holder for total touchdowns when he scored his 79th touchdown on a 17 yard run against Penn State . On December 6 , 2012 , Ball won the Doak Walker Award that is awarded to the nation ' s top running back . Ball finished ahead of fellow finalists Kenjon Barner of Oregon and Johnathan Franklin of UCLA . Ball is the second Badger to win the award , Ron Dayne won the award in 1999 . On January 1 , 2013 , Ball became the first player in Rose Bowl Game history to score a touchdown in three straight years . On April 26 , 2013 , Ball was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 2nd Round of the 2013 NFL Draft . He was the 58th pick and the third back chosen . Records . NCAA single season records NCAA career records Big Ten single season records Wisconsin single season records Wisconsin career records Professional career . 2013 NFL Draft . Ball was drafted in the 2nd round , 58th overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2013 NFL Draft . 2013 Season . In his NFL debut , Ball had 8 carries for 24 yards in Denver ' s 49 - 27 win against the Baltimore Ravens . On October 27 , 2013 , Ball scored his first career touchdown on a 4 - yard run against the Washington Redskins . Denver played against their division rival , Kansas City Chiefs twice in 2013 and Ball had great performances in both games . On November 17 , he had 8 carries for 25 yards and 2 touchdowns . On December 1 , Ball had his best game of his rookie season , with 13 carries for 117 yards , including a 45 yard run which is the longest of his young career . He had another rushing touchdown against the Tennessee Titans that sealed the game for Denver . Personal . Parents are Montee Sr . and Melissa Ball . Cousin , Darius Hill , played football at Ball State . Montee enjoys basketball , reading and video games . Ball is a Christian . Ball was assaulted in the early morning hours of August 1 , 2012 , while walking on University Ave . in Madison . The attackers were reported as three black males unknown to Ball .