Robert Alan Alexander is a former American football

American football

American 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...

 running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 who played collegiately

College football

College 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...

 for the West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia Mountaineers

The West Virginia Mountaineers are the athletic teams of West Virginia University. The school is a member of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I and the Big East Conference. On July 1, 2012 the Mountaineers will switch conferences, moving from the Big East to the Big 12, becoming...

.

Collegiate career

Alexander's career began at South Charleston High School

South Charleston High School

South Charleston High School is a public high school grades 9 through 12 located on the southern half of the Kanawha River, west of the city of Charleston, in the city of South Charleston's Spring Hill neighborhood. The School mascot is the Black Eagle and the enrollment is approximately 1,200...

, where he was the high school football

High school football

High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....

 national player of the year his senior season as picked by Parade Magazine. He then attended West Virginia

West Virginia University

West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...

 over USC, Penn State

Penn State Nittany Lions football

The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...

, Ohio State

Ohio State Buckeyes football

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...

 and Maryland

Maryland Terrapins football

The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Terrapins compete within the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference...

. On his freshman campaign, Alexander shared backup time with Walter Easley, behind starting

Starting lineup

A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...

 back Dave Riley. Alexander rushed for 426 yards and a touchdown

Touchdown

A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...

 his freshman year.

Alexander shared starting time his sophomore year with Dane Conwell, a freshman, in 1978. Alexander, although sharing carries, rushed for 310 yards, third on the team.

In 1979, Alexander's junior season, he finally became the full starter of the Mountaineers' squad. Alexander rushed for 656 yards and two scores that season, which was the best of his career.

Alexander's best season came in 1980, his final year. Alexander rushed for a career-high and team-high 1,064 yards along with 5 touchdowns that season, which undoubtedly the best rushing performance of a Mountaineer back in seasons.

Alexander is currently ranked 7th on the Mountaineers' all-time rushing yardage list with a career total of 2,456 yards rushing.

Professional career

Alexander was drafted in the tenth round of the 1982 NFL Draft

1982 NFL Draft

The 1982 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982...

 by the Los Angeles Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

 and played for them for two seasons.