Former Wisconsin running back and Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne was watching intently today as San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey took the field in today’s Las Vegas Bowl, as Pumphrey was poised to break Dayne’s NCAA career rushing record.
Upon doing so (more on that here), Dayne took to Twitter to congratulate the young man — with a caveat
Congratulations young man #GOAT #7125
— Ron Dayne (@Ron33Dayne) December 17, 2016
See, Ron Dayne played his game in the late-1990s, 1996-1999 to be exact. The NCAA didn’t start adding bowl game totals to records until 2002. As a result, Dayne’s career record stood at “6,397 yards.”
If we’re counting the bowl games he played in, Dayne actually rushed for 7,125 yards in his career with the Badgers.
Meaning, Punphrey didn’t truly break Dayne’s record.
While this practice has come under fire as of late, most notably with Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey “breaking” Barry Sanders’ single-season all-purpose yardage record last year, it stands to be noted that until the NCAA counts pre-2002 bowl games, all new records should have an asterisk.
This is something Ron Dayne made sure people take to heart.