Luke Staley

Lucas Staley (born September 16, 1980, in Bountiful, Utah) is a former American football player who starred as a running back at Brigham Young University from 1999 to 2001.

High school career

In 1998, as a senior at Tualatin (Oregon) High, Staley was named Gatorade Player of the Year and "USA Today" Player of the Year for the state of Oregon. He was also named Oregonian Player of the Year, earned All-State honors on offense and defense, and was conference Player of the Year for offense, defense, and special teams. He averaged over 300 yards per game during Tualatin's 4-game playoff run. Staley was listed as a Blue Chip Top 100 player.

College career

In three years at BYU, Staley established himself as the best runningback in school history. In his first game as a Cougar, Staley scored 3 touchdowns to lead BYU to a 34-13 victory over Colorado State in the first-ever Mountain West Conference (MWC) football game. Despite some nagging injuries that limited his playing time, he continued his impressive play, finishing the season with 92 rushes for 432 yards and 10 touchdowns, and added 26 receptions for 339 yards and 3 touchdowns. He led the MWC in scoring, averaging 9.8 points per game. For his efforts, Staley was named Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, and "Sporting News" Third Team Freshman All-American.

As a sophomore in 2000, Staley started 10 games and led the team with 479 yards (on 130 carries) and scored 7 touchdowns. He added 28 receptions for 327 yards. In BYU's 10-7 victory over UNLV, Staley rushed for 167 yards and was named MWC Offensive Player of the Week. He also received awards from BYU's coaching staff for games against Air Force, UNLV, and Colorado State.

In 2001, Staley burst onto the national scene with a spectacular junior season. Under new head coach Gary Crowton, the Cougars started the season with a 12-0 record and led the NCAA in scoring (46.8 points per game) and total offense (542.9 yards per game). Staley became the main weapon in BYU's offensive blitzkrieg. Despite suffering a season-ending ankle injury against Mississippi State, he compiled some eye-popping statistics. In 11 games, he rushed for 1,596 yards and 24 touchdowns (both totals shattered school records). His incredible rushing average (8.1 yards per carry) led the NCAA, and his 143.8 rushing yards per game ranked third nationally. Staley added 32 receptions for 334 yards and 4 touchdowns; he led the nation in total touchdowns (28) and scoring (15.5 points per game). Staley twice tied BYU's school record for touchdowns in a game, scoring 5 against both Utah State and Colorado State.

In recognition of his accomplishments, Staley received the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the nation's top running back. He was also named Touchdown Club of Columbus Running Back of the Year, and earned First Team All-American honors from the American Football Coaches Association, the Associated Press, CNN/SI, "Football News", Football Writers Association, the "NFL Draft Report", and the Walter Camp Foundation (among others). In addition, Staley received numerous awards from the Mountain West Conference throughout the season, including MWC Offensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MWC honors.

Staley decided to forgoe his senior season at BYU and entered the 2002 NFL Draft. However, because of his injury-prone past, Staley was not selected until the seventh round (214th overall) by the Detroit Lions. He participated in Lions' training camp as a rookie, but suffered a knee injury that required a season-ending surgery. The next few seasons, Staley tried to return to football, for instance when the Utah Blaze arena football team was created, but he was cut after tryouts, but in the end his professional career ended as his body continued to fail him.

Personal notes

Luke Staley's parents are Dan and Dawn Staley. His older brother, Dustin, played defensive back at BYU in 1995 and then served an LDS mission. Dustin returned to BYU and was Luke's teammate from 1999 to 2001. Luke Staley married Heather Jewkes in 2002. They currently have two boys, Tate (born in 2004) and Crew (born in 2006). Reportedly, Staley is now a cell phone sales representative at a mall in Utah County and lives in Draper, Utah.