Often compared to the running back of the Oakland Raiders, Marshawn Lynch, Derrius Guice was called the most motivated player in college football during his time at LSU and was projected by several NFL analysts to be selected for the first or second round of the NFL draft. When the choice finally came down, it was not far off the forecast, as Guice was selected by the Washington Redskins as the 59th overall in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Aside from being named the most motivated player in the history of college football, Derrius Guice is also proud to be the only player in the history of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to have played three career games with 250 or more rushing yards. Learn more facts about this great NFL asset.
Derrius Guice Biography
Guice was born on June 21, 1997, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the son of Derek and Beulah Guice. His father was murdered in 2003 when Guice was just six years old. He had been involved in a fight at Denny’s restaurant that ended with him being shot.
After seeing the scene of his father’s murder on the news, little Derrius Guice found it difficult to deal with it and therefore had to channel all the emotional outbursts he felt in connection with the football game, and this is reflected in his powerful running style, often described in the media as “running furiously”.
He first began attending McKinley High School, but later received a scholarship to attend the predominantly white and affluent private school in the neighborhood called Catholic High with three of his friends.
Guice and his friends experienced first-hand racism and bullying at a predominantly white school because of their skin color. He would remember begging his mother to transfer him back to his former school, but Beulah would not hear anything that had to do with the waiver of the scholarship he had received.
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Derrius and his friends struggled to fit into his newfound environment and met Stephanie de la Houssaye, a white guidance counselor at the school who was attracted to the boys and could understand and appreciate their situation since she herself had grown up in poverty. After she brought Guice home after an altercation involving a gang in his house had rendered him unconscious, the youngster’s affection for the counselor grew and he often followed her home, had dinner with her family, went on vacation with them, and finally had to move in with them.
His high school soccer career began in his senior year when he ran for 1,341 yards with twenty-one touchdowns. After high school, he played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and received the Pete Dawkins trophy. Rivals.com rated him a 5-star recruit and ranked him second to Damien Harris in the best high school running backs of the day.
To fulfill a promise he made to his father before his murder, Derrius Guice signed up to play college football for Louisiana State University (LSU). As a freshman, Guice served as a replacement for Leonard Fournette and finished his first season at LSU with 12 games, rushing 436 yards with 51 carries and 3 touchdowns.
He also began his second season as Fournette’s replacement, but would soon play the first game of his first career after Leonard was forced to retire from the team’s second game due to injury. In that game, he ran with nineteen carries and a touchdown over 155 yards.
In a November game against the Arkansas Razorbacks this season, Guice set a record of 252 yards, which became the second-highest single-game record in school history, and in another game against Texas A&M two weeks later, he set another school single-game record of 285 yards. He became the fourth player in the history of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) to complete three career games at 250 or more yards on the double and was named to the first team on the Associated Press’ All-SEC team.
Derrius Guice missed most of the games of his junior season due to a left leg injury. This season, however, he stormed 276 yards in a game against Ole Miss and became the first player in SEC history to score 3 career games with at least 250 rushing yards.
Professional Career
After his junior season, the running back announced that he would give up his senior season to compete for the NFL draft. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins the 59th overall in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Unfortunately, his rookie season didn’t end well, he suffered an ACL tear injury in the first quarter of the first preseason game that ended his first season with the Redskins.
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Is Derrius Guice Gay?
Guice’s sexuality became a topic of discussion after the running back claimed that he was asked during an interview with a team from the NFL Combine whether he likes men and whether his mother “sells” herself. The NFL promised to investigate the allegations and later stated that the allegations were unfounded and that there was no evidence that this had ever happened.
And now back to the question: Is the running back gay? Well, there is no history of a woman or man in his life and he has not yet confirmed this, and until he does, he will hang the question.
Who Is His Brother?
Guice is not his parents’ only child, he has an older brother named Derrick who was in prison and was released. Derrick was arrested in 2016 for attempted murder and was remanded in community jail on two counts of serious property damage and one count of attempted second-degree murder, illegal weapons use, and simple property damage.
He was later released on bail but was arrested in November of the same year on another charge of resisting an officer, possession of marijuana, and possession of a stolen firearm.
Height, Weight, And Body Measurement
Derrius stands at the height of 5″11, which is 1.80 m, and weighs 102 kg (224 lb). His arm length is 30¾ inches and his hand size is 9¾ inches.