GREEN BAY, Wis. – Before Eddie Lacy’s weight became the subject of much consternation among the Wisconsin sporting public, there was another big running back whose bruising style and tip-the-scales size was the talk of the state.
Ron Dayne.
Dayne won the Heisman Trophy in 1999 and left the University of Wisconsin as college football’s all-time leading rusher, doing so at a playing weight between 265 and 270 pounds.
Dayne’s NFL career was ultimately disappointing – the 11th overall pick in the 2000 draft, he played in 96 games over seven seasons with three teams and finished with 3,722 yards and 28 touchdowns – and Lacy has already had two more 1,000-yard seasons than Dayne had in his career (zero).