While all-time great NFL running backs like Jim Brown, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Marshall Faulk stayed in the spotlight after their playing careers, plenty of other big-named guys who played the position low-key found even greater success after hanging up the cleats.
Here are 10 former NFL running backs who flourished even more in their post-playing days.
Which former running backs had a successful life after the NFL?
Ricky Williams
Bills Vs Dolphins
Williams was the central figure in one of the worst trades in NFL history. Let us take you back to 1999, when the first season of “The Sopranos” aired, and nobody really knew how big a boom it would be.
Then-New Orleans Saints head coach Mike Ditka traded every pick he had in the 1999 draft plus 2000 first and third-round picks to Washington so he could move up and take Williams fifth overall.
Most people regard Williams as a bust, which is strange considering he won the rushing title in 2002 and finished with 10,009 career rushing yards. Unfortunately, much of Williams’ prime was swallowed up by suspensions for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, including a year-long suspension in 2006.
Williams, who spent seven of his 11 seasons with the Miami Dolphins, played one more year for the Baltimore Ravens in 2011. He retired after playing second-fiddle to Ray Rice, putting an end to one of the more bizarre careers in NFL history.
Williams has enjoyed several successful career paths in his post football days. He’s a certified Yoga instructor, appeared on “Celebrity Big Brother” and “Celebrity Apprentice”, and recently launched his own cannabis brand called “Highsman.” Get it?
In 2024, Williams’ company merged with Frozen Fields, a hemp company based in North Carolina, to form “Top Seed Inc.”
Roger Craig
Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, and Ronnie Lott got most of the love during the 49ers’ dynastic run in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, but Craig was no slouch himself. The four-time Pro Bowl running back was instrumental to the 49ers’ Super Bowl championship-winning teams in 1984, 1988, and 1989.
During the 1985 season, Craig became the first player to hit 1,000 rushing AND receiving yards in a single season — a feat that has since only been matched by Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffrey. That year, Craig led the NFL in receptions AS A RUNNING BACK, no less.
The 1988 Offensive Player of the Year played short stints with the Los Angeles Raiders and Minnesota Vikings before retiring in 1994. Over thirty years later, he curiously remains out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Since 1999, Craig has served as the VP Director of Business Development of TIBCO Software Inc. in Palo Alto, California. He has also authored three books and provides motivational speaking services.
Now, if his post-playing career success could just be capped off by a call to the Hall…
Herschel Walker
Like Ricky Williams, Walker was on the wrong side of one of the most lopsided trades in the history of North American professional sports. To be more specific, the Walker trade is far and away the worst in NFL history.
Then again, it’s not Walker’s fault the Minnesota Vikings over-valued him when they completed the 1989 mid-season blockbuster with the Dallas Cowboys. While Walker flopped in Minnesota, the Cowboys used the bundle of picks from the Vikings to build a dynasty that would win three Super Bowls in the ‘90s.
So Walker’s career went downhill after he was traded to Minnesota. But credit the man for not letting the disappointing end to his once-flourishing career define the rest of his life.
Walker founded the Renaissance Man Food Services food distributor company in 2002. Additionally, Walker served as the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition under President Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Trump appointed Walker to that position in 2018, but he was subsequently removed by Biden in 2022. Later that year, Walker ran for the U.S. Senate in Georgia as the Republican nominee, losing to Democrat Raphael Warnock.
Barry Foster
Ask longtime Pittsburgh Steelers fans to name a “one-hit wonder”, and they’ll instantly mention Barry Foster.
The Arkansas product played three seasons of college football, having his best campaign in 1989 when he rushed for 833 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games. The Steelers drafted him in round five at No. 128 overall in 1990.
That year, the Steelers also made the grave mistake of trading the No. 17 pick to the Dallas Cowboys to move down in the draft. With that pick, the Cowboys drafted future career rushing leader Emmitt Smith, who led America’s Team to three Super Bowl championships in the ‘90s.
After two lackluster seasons to begin his career, Foster went off in 1992 with 1,690 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Foster finished with 2,034 yards of offense, earning First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods.
Unfortunately, that was peak Barry Foster in the NFL. Injuries limited him to 20 games over the 1993 and 1994 seasons, and the Steelers traded him to the Carolina Panthers in 1995.
Foster briefly retired before attempting a comeback that same year with the Cincinnati Bengals. But he retired for good at the age of 26, having suffered too many injuries that limited his abilities on the field.
But Foster — or shall we say “Mr. Foster” has done just fine for himself in his post-playing endeavors. In 2013, it was reported that he was working as a coach and gym teacher at DeLay Middle School in Lewisville, Texas.
Foster has since moved up the schooling ranks. He is now the assistant principal of Crosswinds Accelerated High School in Grand Prairie, Texas.
Ahman Green
The Nebraska product was a third-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 1998, but was unable to win the RB1 duties from superstar Ricky Watters.
Green got his big break when the Seahawks traded him to the Green Bay Packers in the 2000 offseason, joining a prolific offense led by three-time MVP quarterback Brett Favre. And just like that, everything changed for Green.
Green posted five straight 1,000-yard seasons to begin his tenure in Green Bay, including four straight Pro Bowl nods from 2001 to ‘04. He helped them to four playoff appearances, going as far as the Divisional Round in 2001 and 2003.
Green left the Packers in 2007 to spend two years with the Houston Texans, before returning to Titletown for his final NFL season in 2009. He retired as the Packers’ all-time rushing leader with 8,322 yards and trails only Jim Taylor on the franchise rushing TD leaderboard.
Green has mostly kept a low profile in his post-football endeavors, but he’s found another successful career at his alma mater.
Green was the head coach of eSports at Lakeland University, coaching in installments of the Madden, NBA2K, and Call of Duty franchises. In 2023, Green returned to his alma mater to become a Lecturer and Esports Coach at Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications.
Ki-Jana Carter
Carter was a can’t-miss talent coming out of Penn State, earning First-team All-Big Ten and unanimous All-American honors in 1994. Carter led the Nittany Lions to a blowout win over Oregon in the 1995 Rose Bowl, earning big game MVP honors.
Viewing Carter as a potential franchise-changing cornerstone, the Cincinnati Bengals traded up via the Carolina Panthers to take him first overall in 1995. Sadly, however, injuries almost immediately destroyed Carter’s career.
Carter suffered a torn ACL in his first preseason game and missed the entire 1995 season. Though he stayed healthy the next two seasons, Carter compiled only 728 rushing yards over that period.
Carter was then limited to four total games over the next two years after suffering season-ending injuries. Career revival attempts with Washington and later New Orleans went nowhere, and Carter was out of football after the 1994 season.
Shed no tears for Carter, though. He later founded ByoGlobe, a company based in Florida that offers advertising, marketing, and branding services. Carter has been the CEO of ByoGlobe since it opened in 2008.
Ed Marinaro
Marinaro is one of the most explosive running backs the NCAA has ever seen, but that success never translated over to the NFL. Marinaro, a three-time First-team All-East selection, was second in 1971 Heisman Trophy voting behind Pat Sullivan but earned 1971 Maxwell Award honors.
Marinaro was drafted in the second round — 50th overall — in 1972 by the Vikings. His pro career lasted just six seasons, though, with Marinaro totaling 1,319 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Marinaro found another way to stay famous in his post-football endeavors, though. He had small roles in popular films like 1978’s “Fingers” starring Harvey Keitel and 1991’s “Queen Logic” with John Malkovich and Kevin Bacon.
Marinaro also starred in NBC’s ‘80s hit series “Hill Street Blues”, but may be best known for his role as football head coach Marty Daniels in “Blue Mountain State.” He reprised his role in the 2016 film, “Blue Mountain State: The Rise of Thadland.”
Thomas Jones
One of the more underrated running backs of his era, Jones is a proud member of the 10K rushing club. Believe it or not, he’s higher on the leaderboard than the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Eddie George, Matt Forte, and Earl Campbell.
The Arizona Cardinals selected Jones seventh overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, but it would take three teams and five years until he finally hit his ceiling. After disappointing stints with the Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jones joined the Chicago Bears in 2004 and finally became a household name.
That year, he rushed for 948 yards and seven touchdowns. TJ would hit 1,000 yards for the first time in 2005 — the first of five straight 1K seasons. He would hit the mark thrice with the New York Jets as well, helping them to a surprise AFC Championship Game appearance in 2009.
Jones retired after a forgettable 2011 season with the Kansas City Chiefs. But yeah, 10,591 rushing yards and 68 touchdowns weren’t half-bad for a guy that didn’t get going until his fifth season.
Jones has remained very much in the spotlight since retiring over a decade ago. He adopted the stage name “Thomas Q. Jones” and has formed a successful acting career, including roles in Netflix’s “Luke Cage”, “Being Mary Jane,” and “Shameless” television series.
Jones also had a small role in the 2015 hit film “Straight Outta Compton.”
Tiki Barber
The great Barry Sanders is always the first one to come to mind when you think of great running backs who retired early. But don’t forget about Tiki Barber, who walked away in 2007 after rushing for 1,662 yards and five touchdowns in his swan song season.
In a case of bad timing for Barber, the Giants went on to win Super Bowl 42 after his retirement.
The New York Giants’ legend and three-time Pro Bowler surely has no regrets, considering how much he flourished in his post-football life. Barber briefly worked as an analyst on NBC’s “Football Night in America” program, co-hosted the “Fox & Friends” program, and worked the 2008 Summer Olympics broadcast on MSNBC.
Barber later co-hosted “Tiki & Tierney” on WFAN for one year. He now co-hosts a WFAN radio program with Evan Roberts.
Barber is also busy running a successful business that he kick-started nearly a decade ago. In 2018, he co-founded the Grove Group Management, a cannabis investment firm.
Eddie George
In the late ‘90s and early 2000s, there weren’t many more exciting NFL duos than Eddie George and Steve McNair. George perfectly complemented the dual-threat QB and MVP winner in the Tennessee Titans’ backfield, leading the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance in the 1999 season and a trip to the 2002 AFC Championship Game.
George exceeded 1,000 rushing yards in seven of his nine NFL seasons, winning 1996 Offensive Rookie of the Year honors before being named to four Pro Bowls. The 1995 Heisman Trophy winner spent his last season with the Dallas Cowboys in 2004 before retiring.
George stayed out of the spotlight for over a decade in his post-playing days before resurfacing in 2021. That year, he signed a five-year contract to take over as head coach of the Tennessee State Tigers’ football team.
George spent four seasons at Tennessee State, compiling a 24-22 record. After four years there, George made the jump to the FBS in 2025 by accepting the Bowling Green Falcons’ head coaching gig. The ex-Titans star replaced Scot Loeffler, who left for the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterbacks coach job.