Gerhart to leave for draft.

[Spammy]

Gerhart to leave Stanford for draft

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STANFORD, Calif. -- Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart announced Friday that he will enter the NFL draft instead of staying at Stanford for a fifth season.

Gerhartthanked coach Jim Harbaugh, former running backs coach Willie Taggartand his offensive linemen for helping his success this season. He couldhave stayed for a fifth season because he played just one game in 2007because of injuries but opted for the NFL instead.

[+] EnlargeEzra Shaw/Getty ImagesToby Gerhart is entering the NFL draft.Afterwinning just one game his freshman season under coach Walt Harris,Gerhart helped lead a turnaround for the Cardinal that was capped thisseason by the school's first bowl bid since 2001.

"We've beenthrough a lot of adversity during my time here, but I'm extremely proudto have been part of the class that brought Stanford football back tonational prominence," Gerhart said.

Stanford (8-5) lost the BrutSun Bowl to Oklahoma but had many breakthroughs this season led byGerhart. The Cardinal made it into The Associated Press rankings forthe first time in eight years and were in contention for the Pac-10title until late in the season.

Gerhart was at his best during amemorable November run for Stanford. He ran for 223 yards and three TDsin a 51-42 victory over then-No. 7 Oregon, followed by 178 yardsrushing and three scores in a 55-21 victory at then-No. 11 SouthernCalifornia.

Gerhart ran for 136 yards and four touchdowns in a34-28 loss to California before capping the month with 205 yardsrushing, three touchdowns and a TD pass in a 45-38 win against NotreDame.

Gerhart ran for a school-record 1,871 yards and anation-leading 28 touchdowns this past season. He won the Doak WalkerAward as the nation's top running back and finished second in theHeisman Trophy voting to Alabama's Mark Ingram in the closest vote ever.

"Tobywill be a great pro, and we are all excited for his opportunity at thenext level," Harbaugh said. "We are excited and enthused to watch Tobyand all of our seniors go on to become leaders in their chosen fields."

With Gerhart in the NFL, Stanford's offense next season will revolve more around quarterback Andrew Luck. Stepfan Taylor, who ran for 303 yards as a freshman, will step in at tailback along with Jeremy Stewart and Tyler Gaffney.

[dfwabel]

You give us a story which is about 12 hours old, poorly place a picture, and then have nothing to say other than two letters in the subheading.

This could have been an underclassmen thread, but your homer-ism failed even to make this less of a Graveyard-free thread. Please, stop rooting for the University of Miami while you are at it.

[Sport]

I have a hard time getting down on any running back for leavingcollege early. Their shelf-life is so short that it's almost not smart to stay in college.

[mania]

but dude he is a traitor he owed it to SPAMMMY

[GFB]

He will be as successful in the NFL as _______________ (Insert Favorite White Running Back Here)

[Cujo]

(Insert Favorite White Running Back Here)

[dfwabel]

LenDale? Please.

[NJTank]

Toby Gerhart is never going to be more wanted in the draft coming off a second place finish in the Heisman vote, you cannot blame him for leaving early.

[JQK]

.

[BaltimoreFan]

Toby Gerhart is never going to be more wanted in the draft coming off a second place finish in the Heisman vote, you cannot blame him for leaving early.

I have to agree. Given his situation I highly doubt his draft status will get any higher. It can only get lower. Smart move to take you chances now.

[Sguse1]

Hopefully he will get the chance to play running back and not be an H-back/tight end. I think the white running back is becoming an anomaly in todays NFL. Brian Leonard is the only white running back I can think of that actually plays tail back. White running backs are becoming similar to what the black quarterback was.

[floydnimrod]

Since it doesn't happen to UC's football team very often, I wouldn't really know how to react, but I'd think I'd be happy for a player to go pro. It's not like Gerhart left to go to another college. He is still a Stanford "alum" (I don't know if you consider someone who didn't graduate to be an alum). I wish Gerhart the best of luck in the NFL (unless he's on the Steelers, Ravens, or Browns)

[Billy B]

Since it doesn't happen to UC's football team very often, I wouldn't really know how to react, but I'd think I'd be happy for a player to go pro. It's not like Gerhart left to go to another college. He is still a Stanford "alum" (I don't know if you consider someone who didn't graduate to be an alum). I wish Gerhart the best of luck in the NFL (unless he's on the Steelers, Ravens, or Browns)

Does anyone know if Gerhart is going to graduate? This is his fourth year in college and from what I've seen, he was on track to graduate in the spring. So he still may be trying to graduate, but it's more likely that he skips out on his last semester for the draft.

[oddball]

I figure we'll see Gerhart used in the NFL like Mike Alstott was used. Oh and Spammy, grow up please. I'm surprised you haven't been banned yet with all your immaturity in the last month.

[rams80]

Toby Gerhart is never going to be more wanted in the draft coming off a second place finish in the Heisman vote, you cannot blame him for leaving early.

I have to agree. Given his situation I highly doubt his draft status will get any higher. It can only get lower. Smart move to take you chances now.

More importantly, if the NFL institutes a rookie salary scale, it could be that he loses a lot of money even if he didn't lose draft position.

[The_Admiral]

Why can't white guys play running back? For that matter, why is football the most positionally segregated sport? All basketball and baseball positions can be fielded equally well by anyone. Is it the work of coaches at lower levels who groom players for positions, or is it just that black people are faster than white people?

[BBTV]

There are definitely stereotypes employed by coaches at the lower levels. In a lot of cases, athletic (read not big and fat) black kids are just assumed by the coaches to be the RBs and WRs, while the equally athletic white kids are turned into tight ends and QBs. A lot of white players who would be fine RBs never really get the chance to learn the position and develop into top flight players.

[tj4eck]

Good Riddance...

that only helps Oregon's path to a second straight Pac-10 title

[The_Admiral]

It's such an oddity of the sports landscape, because of course other sports have positional specialization too, but coaches can't really steer players to positions based on that. Point guards have to be smart, centers have to be really tall, first basemen have to slug, and cornerbacks have to...be black?

[oddball]

Why can't white guys play running back? For that matter, why is football the most positionally segregated sport? All basketball and baseball positions can be fielded equally well by anyone. Is it the work of coaches at lower levels who groom players for positions, or is it just that black people are faster than white people?

I have no real clue. If you think that whites are not as fast as blacks, then watch the olympic track and field events with running and jumping and that might answer your question. I see some white athletes do well, but not a lot of them. Why is that? I can't exactly tell you except they are built different than most whites are, it's just the way God made them. I think whites can play running back as I think whites can play DB and yet you see very and I mean very few whites playing DB especially at corner. If you see a white player in the NFL as a DB, it's usually at safety. I don't think coaches stereotype players based on skin, it's what player at what position can win you the game.

I did chuckle at the comment you made about all basketball and baseball positions can be fielded equally by anyone. Until recently when the NBA really started drafting players out of Europe, it was rare to see more than 2 white guys on a team and usually those white guys were the backup forwards and centers who got maybe 2 minutes a game if they were lucky. Even now most NBA teams active players will be something like 8 blacks to 4 whites. I think each sport has it's own nuances that allow certain players to excel better than others.