Michael Joseph Alstott nicknamed
"A-Train", is a former
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
fullbackA fullback is a position in the offensive backfield in American and Canadian football, and is one of the two running back positions along with the halfback...
in the
National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He spent his entire 12-year career with the
Tampa Bay BuccaneersThe Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
. He played
college footballCollege football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at
PurdueThe Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
. During his career, Alstott was selected to six
Pro BowlIn professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
s and was the starting fullback/running back with the Buccaneers in
Super Bowl XXXVIISuper Bowl XXXVII was an American football game played on January 26, 2003 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California to decide the National Football League champion following the 2002 regular season...
.
College career
Alstott attended
Purdue UniversityPurdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...
for four years, where he became the first player in school history named MVP in three consecutive seasons. Alstott scored 12 touchdowns as a sophomore, 14 as a junior and 11 as a senior, and held the Purdue rushing touchdown record with 39 until
Kory SheetsKory Gerren Sheets is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2009...
broke it in 2008. He averaged 5.6 yards per attempt during his Purdue career before graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in business. He finished as Purdue's all-time leading rusher with 3,635 yards, including a school-best 1,436 yards in 1995.
Professional career
He was a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII (2002), played at
Qualcomm StadiumQualcomm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium, in San Diego, California, in the Mission Valley area....
in San Diego, CA. Alstott rushed for 15 yards and the first Super Bowl touchdown in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. He also caught five passes for 43 yards.
Alstott signed a one-year contract to stay in Tampa Bay for the
2005 seasonThe 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
, and signed a similar contract at the conclusion of the
2006 seasonThe 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...
after contemplating retirement. However, he spent all of the
2007 seasonThe 2007 NFL season was the 88th regular season of the National Football League.Regular-season play was held from September 6 to December 30....
on injured reserve because of neck problems, leading to his retirement on January 24, 2008.
In the summer of 2007, shortly before he suffered his season-ending and ultimately career-ending
neckThe neck is the part of the body, on many terrestrial or secondarily aquatic vertebrates, that distinguishes the head from the torso or trunk. The adjective signifying "of the neck" is cervical .-Boner anatomy: The cervical spine:The cervical portion of the human spine comprises seven boney...
injury, Alstott appeared in a television commercial for
ESPN Fantasy FootballFantasy football is an interactive, virtual competition in which people manage professional football players versus one another and that allows people to act as general managers of a pseudo-football team. The players that an individual is able to manage are professional American Football players...
along with then former Falcon
Warrick DunnWarrick De'Mon Dunn is a former American football running back, and current minority owner of the Atlanta Falcons. He was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 NFL Draft, after playing college football at Florida State...
, who was later signed by the Buccaneers.
He was ranked #10 on the
NFL NetworkNFL Network is an American television specialty channel owned and operated by the National Football League . It was launched November 4, 2003, only eight months after the league's 32 team owners voted unanimously to approve its formation...
's "Top Ten Power Backs".
Personal life
Alstott is married to Nicole Alstott, they have three children; their daughters are Hannah and Lexie along with son Griffin. Their family currently resides in
St. Petersburg, FloridaSt. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is known as a vacation destination for both American and foreign tourists. As of 2008, the population estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau is 245,314, making St...
. Along with his wife Nicole they formed the
Mike Alstott Family Foundation. Alstott also owns
Island Way Grill, a restaurant in
Clearwater, FloridaClearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...
along with former teammate tight end
Dave MooreDavid Edward Moore is a former American football player who played for the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Buffalo Bills. During his career he was a Tight End, Full Back, and Long Snapper. Moore played in his only Pro Bowl in 2007 as long snapper for the NFC. He retired on June 7, 2007...
. Alstott also hosts an annual football camp. He was given the key to St. Petersburg on February 13, 2003. He makes an annual visit to St. Petersburg All Children's Hospital to attempt to make the holidays more cheerful and to take photos with all the children.
Mike also coaches youth football for the Seminole Chiefs and high school football for St.Petersburg Catholic.
External links