Hall of Fame

Toby Gerhart 300x413

Toby Gerhart

  • School
    Stanford
  • Induction
    2024
Position: Running Back
Years: 2006-09
Place of Birth: Norco, CA
Date of Birth: March 28, 1987
Jersey Number: 7
Height: 6-0
Weight: 235
High School: Norco (CA)

Balance, power, vision, and speed combined to give Toby Gerhart the tools to make him the best running back in the nation during his tenure at Stanford, earning him multiple spots in the record books and now a place in the College Football Hall of Fame. The Narco, California native, becomes the 20th Stanford player in the Hall.
 
A 2009 unanimous First Team All-American and winner of the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back, Gerhart was the Heisman Trophy runner-up, finishing 28 points behind Mark Ingram, the closest race in Heisman history. During his prolific senior campaign, Gerhart led the nation in points (178), touchdowns (29), rushing attempts (343), rushing yards (1,871) and rushing touchdowns (28). His numerous accolades in 2009 also included CBS Sports Offensive Player of the Year; the Touchdown Club of Columbus's Archie Griffin Award winner as the nation's most valuable player; the Jim Brown Trohy winner as nation's top running back, also presented by the Touchdown Club of Columbus.
 
The Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year and a two-time All-Pac-10 performer, Gerhart earned First Team honors as a senior and Second Team accolades as a junior. He holds the Pac-12 single-season record for points scored (178), touchdowns scored (29) and rushing touchdowns (28). Excelling in the classroom, he was a First Team Academic All-Pac-10 selection in 2009 and a Second Team Academic pick in 2008. He received the Tom Hansen Conference Medal as Stanford's most outstanding male student-athlete in 2009 and the Al Masters Award in 2010.
 
Gerhart is Stanford's all-time leader in career (44) and single-season (28 in 2009) rushing touchdowns as well as single-season scoring (172 points in 2009). He holds multiple spots in the Stanford record books, and he finished his career with 671 rushes for 3,522 yards and 44 touchdowns as well as 39 receptions for 395 yards. Playing in 38 career games, he averaged 92.7 yards per game. He broke the Stanford single-season rushing record as a junior, finishing with 1,136 yards on 210 carries. He smashed his own record the next year with 1,871 yards on 343 carries, becoming just the second running back in school history to rush for 1,000 or more yards in consecutive seasons.
 
Stanford went 18-31-0 during Gerhart's tenure, steadily improving to an 8-5 season during his senior campaign and a berth in the Sun Bowl, which marked the Cardinal's first postseason appearance in eight years.
 
Gerhart also starred on the baseball diamond at Stanford, but he opted for the NFL after college. Selected in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Vikings, Gerhart played for Minnesota from 2010-13 and for Jacksonville from 2014-15.
 
Gerhart returned to Stanford in 2018 as an MBA student, graduating in 2020. He currently works as a Director of Sales Enablement at Asurion, an information technology services and consulting firm located in Nashville, Tennessee. He also founded Toby's Treadmills, a speed and development program for local athletes, and serves as a motivational speaker.