Fitzgerald Toussaint

Fitzgerald Toussaint (born May 4, 1990) is an American football running back. He was the starting running back for the 2011 Michigan Wolverines football team and is the starting running back for the 2012 team. Toussaint received 2011 All-Big Ten honorable mention.

Early years
Toussaint grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, where he graduated from Liberty High School. As a senior in 2008, he rushed for 2,229 yards (10.4 per carry) and 28 touchdowns and was named Ohio's co-offensive player of the year in Division III. In 2008, his father was arrested for stabbing an Akron man at Toussaint's Liberty football scrimmage. Toussaint committed to the University of Michigan after his senior year and was considered one of the five impact players in Michigan's recruiting class for 2009. After committing to Michigan, Toussaint donned the scarlet uniform of the Ohio high school all-star team for the annual Big 33 Football Classic against the Pennsylvania high school all-star team.

University of Michigan
Toussaint enrolled at the University of Michigan on a football scholarship in 2009. He was redshirted during the 2009 season. Toussaint missed the first three games of the 2010 season with a knee injury. In his first appearance for the Wolverines, Toussaint rushed for 129 yards on six carries, including 61-yard gain in the fourth quarter, against Bowling Green. He suffered a shoulder injury in October 2010.

After spending the 2010 season as a back-up to Michael Shaw, Toussaint challenged Shaw for the No. 1 running back position during 2011 summer practice. In the end, head coach Brady Hoke named Toussaint as the Wolverines' No. 1 running back at the start of the 2011 season. After gaining 80 yards on 11 carries (7.3 yards per carry) and scoring two touchdowns in Michigan's 2011 season opener against Western Michigan, Hoke confirmed that Toussaint remained the team's No. 1 running back.

After suffering a shoulder injury, he did not play against Notre Dame in the second week of the season. He returned to the lineup the following week and went on to record his second 100-yard rushing game in the Battle for the Little Brown Jug against Minnesota in the fifth game of the season, totaling 108 yards on 11 carries for an average of 9.8 yards per carry.

On October 29, Toussaint ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries in a 36-14 victory over Purdue. He had career highs in both yards gained and carries. On November 12, Toussaint set new career highs with 27 carries, a 65-yard run, and 192 rushing yards against Illinois. In the subsequent two weeks, he followed up with 138 rushing yards against Nebraska on November 19, 2011, and 120 yards rushing against Ohio State on November 26, in "the Game".

During the 2011 season, Toussaint rushed for 1,041 yards. With quarterback Denard Robinson also rushing for over 1,000 yards, the Wolverines had a tandem of 1,000-yard rushers for the first time since 1975. Toussaint averaged 5.6 yards per carry during the season. He ranked second in the Big Ten Conference in yards per carry behind Wisconsin running back Montee Ball. He earned All-Big Ten Conference honorable mention recognition from both the coaches and the media. At the end of the regular season, Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges praised Toussaint's late season performance (100-plus rushing yards in four of the last five games) and compared him to USC Heisman Trophy winner Charles White: "You put the (USC) jersey on him, you would hardly be able to tell the difference. That's who he reminds me of."

2012 season
At the time of Michigan's spring practice in April 2012, Borges said there was no running back controversy for the 2012 team: "Fitz is our tailback. If he isn't, I'm not very smart."

On July 21, 2012, Toussaint was arrested in Ann Arbor after running a red light and charged with driving under the influence. On July 23, he was suspended from the team. In late August, Toussaint pled guilty to operating a vehicle while visibly impaired, after telling the court that he had been drinking brandy before driving. On October 23, he was sentenced to 10 months probation and ordered by the Court to attend 10 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, pay $1,500 in fees and fines, and undergo random drug and alcohol tests.

Toussaint remained suspended from the team for the opening game of the 2012 season, but returned to the lineup as Michigan's lead running back in the second week of the season. Through the tenth game of the 2012 season, Toussaint had gained 483 yards and scored five touchdown on 127carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry.

On Nov. 17, 2012, during a first quarter run in the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, Toussaint sustained a broken leg, ending his season.