Nebraska Football Alum Ameer Abdullah Posts Career Day for Las Vegas Raiders

As it turns out, Ameer Abdullah still has plenty left in the tank.

The 10-year National Football League veteran and former Nebraska football running back posted a career day Sunday, aiding the Las Vegas Raiders in a 25-10 road victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Abdullah finished with a career-best 147 scrimmage yards and topped 100 rushing yards for the first time as a professional. The former Husker finished his day in the Superdome with 20 carries for 115 rushing yards to go along with three receptions for 32 yards. The triple-digit rushing performance boosted the 31-year old back’s season rushing total to 311 yards.

Although Abdullah didn’t score, he did come close in the second quarter, adding an emphatic celebration before a review that ruled him down at the one-yard line after a 13-yard reception.

“Honestly, we were just beating them up up front,” Abdullah said after the game. “I feel like our guys leaned on them, they understood when to come off on double teams. And when you have that type of synergy with the O-line and the backs, we just do our job. We felt like the O-line had an advantage.”

Abdullah has played for four NFL franchises since entering the league in 2015 as a second-round draft pick by the Detroit Lions. After a four-year stint with the Lions, Abdullah was moved to the Minnesota Vikings in 2018 until 2021, when he joined Matt Rhule’s Carolina Panthers. Abdullah finished the final 11 games of that season with Rhule, rushing for 136 yards on 44 carries for the Panthers.

After Rhule was let go by Carolina in 2022 and then hired by Nebraska, Abdullah’s name has reappeared as a voice for praise for the head coach.

“I know you guys are just as excited as I am to watch Coach Matt Rhule to Lincoln, Nebraska,” Abdullah said in a social media clip aimed at Husker fans in early December 2022. “Now I spent a shorter extent with him with my time with the Carolina Panthers. Not only are we getting an excellent, excellent football coach. We’re getting an even better human being, someone who is going to lead the program the right way, someone who is going to lead it the Nebraska way.”

Rhule has been complimentary of Abdullah from the start of his Nebraska tenure, saying he was “1,000 percent” a better coach for his time in Carolina – espcially working with the former Husker running back.

“Dealing with the professional athlete was probably the best. Having a conversation with Ameer Abdullah and Christian McCaffrey, they are two guys, in the same position but completely different people,” Rhule said during his introductory press conference for Nebraska football. “It really taught me, it’s not coach-player, it’s people-people. We all have different roles, but we are all just people. I think that interaction with the players really taught me.”

Since 2022, Abdullah has been a rotating backfield option and special teams asset for the Raiders, recording 50 games played for the Silver and Black. Former teammates, including Will Compton – a Nebraska and Raiders teammate during Abdullah’s stops at both locations – noted the back’s performance from Sunday afternoon.

Abdullah was a significant offensive threat for Nebraska during his four-year career in Lincoln. He ended his tenure as Husker with 4,588 rushing yards, 39 rushing touchdowns, 690 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns. Early in his career at Nebraska, Abdullah was a lethal return man, returning a punt and a kickoff for scores. Abdullah ended his Husker career as the second leading rusher in program history, falling 192 yards shy of Mike Rozier’s 4,780 yards.

Abdullah had four 200-yard rushing performances for the Huskers, including a high of 232 yards against Florida Atlantic to start the 2014 season.

Abdullah will wrap up his 10th season in the NFL on Sunday, Jan. 5, with a home game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Raiders have had a lackluster season, sitting in the cellar of the AFC West at 4-12 and projected for the eighth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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