Dominic Rhodes remains one of the most physically gifted athletes to step on the football field at Midwestern State. The Abilene Cooper High product honed his skills helping to change the fate of an MSU football program four seasons after making the jump to NCAA Division II.
Rhodes needed just two seasons to amass a then-program record 2,541 yards earning third-team Don Hansen Football Gazette All-America honors as a senior leading MSU to its first winning ledger in nine seasons.
The versatile Rhodes ranked third in Division II during his senior campaign in 2000 accounting for more than 185 all-purpose yards per game finishing the season with 1,387 yards on 229 carries with 17 touchdowns while also serving as the team’s primary punt and kick returner.
The 5-11, 205-pounder ran for at least 100 yards seven times as a senior including in each of his last five games as went for 192 yards and four TDs against Oklahoma Panhandle State, 153 yards and two TDs versus Southeastern Oklahoma, 163 yards and two scores at Northeastern State, 126 yards and three touchdowns at Tarleton State and 180 yards and a score against Southwestern Oklahoma.
As a junior in 1999, he became just the third running back since MSU resurrected football 12 years prior to run for 1,000 yards amassing seven 100-yard performances to finish with 1,154 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Following his MSU career, Rhodes signed as undrafted free agent with the Indianapolis Colts in 2001 where it didn’t take long to make a splash. Taking over for the injured Edgerrin James, he ran for the most yards by an undrafted rookie in NFL history going for 1,104 yards despite only playing the final nine games of the season. It was the first of eight seasons in the NFL for Rhodes, who accounted for 3,286 yards and 26 touchdowns during stints with Indianapolis and Oakland. Rhodes ran for 113 yards and a touchdown in Indianapolis' 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI.
Rhodes was inducted into MSU’s Hall of Honor in 2016.
