BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…October 31, 2017, five years ago today:
Jay Ajayi becomes the first Boise State alum involved in a major midseason NFL trade, as the Miami Dolphins send him to the Philadelphia Eagles for a fourth-round draft pick. It had been a weird year for Ajayi, his third in the NFL. He was averaging only 3.4 yards per carry and had not scored a touchdown while clashing with Dolphins coach Adam Gase, but he had rushed for 130 yards in a win over Atlanta two weeks earlier.
Gase attributed the trade to philosophical differences and a “business decision.” He said the team and the Ajayi weren’t on the same page in terms of his running style, saying the running back seemed to always want to “hit a home run” instead of settling for four or five yards. He had hit plenty of home runs just the year before, finishing fourth in the NFL in rushing in 2016 with 1,272 yards and eight TDs and playing in his first Pro Bowl.
But there were good things ahead after the trade. In his first game as an Eagle that Sunday, Ajayi would endear himself to Philly fans with a 46-yard touchdown run. He had eight carries on the day for 77 yards in a 51-23 rout of the Denver Broncos. A week later he peeled off a 71-yard run in a 37-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys. His regular season numbers for the Eagles included 408 yards and 5.8 yards per carry.
Then in the playoffs (including Super Bowl 52), Ajayi logged 42 carries for 184 yards (nine for 57 in the Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots). But injuries were always a part of Ajayi’s football career, beginning with a torn ACL during his redshirt year at Boise State. And the bug would return the following season with another torn ACL. Ajayi would play only seven games the rest of his career, which would end after the 2019 season.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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