One of a kind: Toby Gerhart succeeds at a position white players don't play at as much anymore

Patron saint of white running backs.

Gerhart, if you hadn’t noticed, is white.

Then again, how could you not notice?

Gerhart is part of an almost extinct breed of player in the highest levels of football — white feature backs.

The last white running back that rushed for 1,000 yards in the NFL was Craig James. He did so 24 years ago. That drought pales in comparison to the last time a white running back led the NFL in rushing: Jim Taylor 47 years ago.

John Cappelletti was the last white running back to win the Heisman, a feat the Penn State back accomplished in 1973.

In the NFL, none of the 32 teams currently has a white feature back. In the college ranks, only one team from a BCS conference has one.

His name: Toby Gerhart.

So, why are there so few white running backs in college and professional football?

"Simple, simple, simple reason,” coaching legend Barry Switzer said. "There’s not that many white running backs out there. They’re limited in number.”

There’s validity in that limited-availability theory. Major-college and pro coaches, after all, are primarily interested in one thing — winning — and if they think a player can help them do that, they’ll go after him. His skin could be white or black, blue or green, orange or purple with pink polka dots.

What matters most is his ability.

That was what Switzer told his coaching staff when he first became Oklahoma’s head coach in 1973. He passed along that mandate in the first meeting with his assistants.

"We’re going to recruit the best players at each position,” he told them.

He looked around the room, a stern look etched on his face.

"If anybody has any exception to that, you need to talk to me after the meeting,” he said. "You might need to get a job somewhere else.”

In a not-so-subtle way, Switzer was letting his coaches know that he wanted them to recruit the best players regardless of race. In those days, some coaches were still hesitant to recruit blacks to play certain positions. Switzer wanted no such exceptions.

That’s because he wanted to win.

So does every pro and college coach nowadays. If they are seeking the best players to help them do that, then why aren’t they finding many white running backs?

The answer has its origins in the reintegration of the NFL. The league welcomed back black players in 1946, and over the next several decades, offenses became increasingly specialized. Highly skilled athletes became a must at running back.

That prompted grassroots coaches at the high school levels and below to seek out the best athletes to play the position. Blacks have been chosen more often than whites.

Why?

The theories are many. Some believe young players are funneled toward certain positions based on stereotyped characteristics, a practice called stacking or slotting. Others say young athletes’ economic backgrounds go a long way toward predetermining what position they’ll seek. Then there is the controversial theory based on genetics and the idea that blacks have a speed and skill advantage on whites.

"They can’t compete with us,” NFL Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson once said. "The black athlete, especially at that position, is faster, more elusive. That’s a position made for agility.

"It’s kind of like our chosen position.”

That’s as ridiculous, of course, as saying quarterback is a white man’s position.

Jon Entine contends there is a link between ancestral genetics and athletic success. In his controversial book "Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It,” he argues that athletes of West African descent — which would include a sizable chunk of black athletes in America — have a genetic advantage that gives them an edge in sprinting.

Some scientists agree. Others do not.

You can question all of the theories, but you can’t dispute the trend.

White running backs are few and far between.

According to the recruiting Web site Rivals.com, 27 running backs are four- or five-star prospects in this year’s recruiting class.

None of them are white.

The highest ranked white running back is Brandon Bourbon. The pride of Potosi, Mo., runs a sub-4.5 40-yard dash, showing great straight-ahead speed with an ability to make defenders miss. He also has a 3.86 grade point average.

Bourbon is committed to Stanford.

Maybe he’s the next Toby Gerhart.

The Cardinal would be so lucky. Gerhart has been nothing short of phenomenal this season, rushing for 1,736 yards and 26 touchdowns. He has led Stanford to its first bowl appearance in eight years, a Sun Bowl showdown with Oklahoma on New Year’s Eve.

Gerhart wasn’t some no-name coming out of high school. He got plenty of attention from recruiters. When he went to Southern Cal on a visit, the coaches said they’d love to have him join the Trojans. Thing is, they wanted him to move to fullback or linebacker.

Heck, Gerhart’s father told Sports Illustrated that a linebacker coach recently said of his son, "You give me one year with him, and I’ll turn him into Junior Seau.”

Nothing wrong with Junior Seau.

But why couldn’t Gerhart be the next Marion Barber or Steven Jackson? He has a build and a style similar to those two NFL standouts, and yet, you wonder how many NFL types have Gerhart penciled in as a fullback or tight end or maybe even a linebacker.

As rare as white running backs are in the college ranks, they’re even rarer in the pros.

"It’s definitely a position that’s predominantly black,” said Walt Garrison, who was a star running back at Oklahoma State before becoming a standout with the Dallas Cowboys. "That’s not to say there aren’t any great running backs who are white.”

He played alongside another white tailback in Dallas, Dan Reeves, but now, having a backfield made up entirely of white running backs seems as farfetched as Bill Belichick cracking a smile or Chad Ochocinco toning it down.

"There’s just not that many of them,” Garrison said of white running backs. "I don’t know why that is.”

Toby Gerhart is a rarity, an anomaly, a throwback.

Come Saturday, though, he might be a Heisman Trophy winner, too.

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