Chris Ivory

Christopher Ivory (born March 22, 1988) is an American football running back for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was signed as a free agent by the Saints after the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Washington State and Tiffin.

Early years
Ivory earned letters in both football and track and field in high school at Longview High School in Longview, Texas, playing on a team that also included future NFL players Trent Williams, Malcolm Kelly, and Robert Henson. He was listed as a two-star recruit by both Rivals.com and Scout.com.

College career
Ivory played three years for Washington State. Limited by injuries, in 22 games he had 91 rushes for 534 yards and 4 touchdowns, as well as 23 kickoff returns averaging 22.8 yards. When the coaches who had recruited him were replaced by a new coaching staff, Ivory found himself far down on the Cougars' depth chart. In August 2009, Ivory was dismissed from the Washington State team for violating team rules.

Ivory then transferred to Tiffin, a Division II school in Tiffin, Ohio, whose team was coached by Dave Walkosky, a former Washington State assistant coach. In Ivory's final year of college football, he had 39 rushes for 223 yards in five games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Walkosky attempted to obtain a medical redshirt exemption to allow Ivory to play another year, but this was unsuccessful. Despite his brief stint at Tiffin, Ivory's performance and speed attracted attention from NFL scouts, and he was thought to have a chance of becoming the first Tiffin player to be drafted by the NFL The Saints became interested in Ivory, despite his injuries, after one of their scouts was impressed by Walkosky's enthusiastic recommendations.

New Orleans Saints
Ivory was not drafted, but he reached a deal with the Saints immediately after the draft, and signed as a free agent on May 3, 2010. He had an impressive performance in training camp and preseason games, highlighted by a strong performance against the San Diego Chargers that included a 76-yard touchdown on a swing pass.

Early season injuries to Reggie Bush and Pierre Thomas left Ivory as the Saints' starting running back. He had a breakout game in Week 6 against Tampa Bay: his 158 yards on 15 carries were the most by any Saints running back since Deuce McAllister rushed for 165 yards in a 2003 game, and the most by a Saints rookie since a 179 yard effort by Ricky Williams in 1999. The performance earned him awards as both Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week and FedEx Ground Player of the Week. Another strong performance in Week 11, with 23 rushes for 99 yards in a 34-19 win over against Seattle, led Seahawks coach Pete Carroll to call Ivory "a freaking stud out there." Ivory ended the regular season with 137 rushes for 716 yards (leading the team) and 5 touchdowns, but he also suffered repeated injuries during the year; after a foot injury in the Saints' last regular season game, he was placed on the injured reserve list and was unable to play in the post-season.

Ivory spent the first six games of the 2011 season on the PUP list; after he was activated, he played in 6 games, with 79 rushes for 374 yards, and 22 carries for 70 yards in the Saints' two playoff games. In May 2012, the Saints paid Ivory an additional signing bonus to make up for the income he lost on the PUP list. He will become a restricted free agent after the 2012 season.