Michigan State football: 15 greatest running backs in Spartans history
By John Buhler
Tico Duckett may not have had the NFL career of his younger brother T.J. Duckett, but the older Duckett brother stands as the third-best running back in Michigan State football history. Duckett was a dominating tailback for the Spartans in the early 1990s.
As a freshman in 1989, Duckett rushed for 593 yards and four touchdowns on 104 carries. Though a solid campaign, the best was yet to come for him in East Lansing. As a sophomore in 1990, Duckett’s workload essentially doubled, as did his production. He rushed for 1,394 yards and 10 touchdowns, both career-bests, on 257 carries. This led him to be named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year.
No, Duckett wasn’t done running the ball down the throat of Big Ten defenses as an upperclassman. He had 272 carries for 1,204 yards and five touchdowns as a junior in 1991. This ended up being his best season as a receiver out of the backfield, as he had 17 catches for 136 yards.
In his final season at Michigan State, Duckett went over 1,000 rushing yards for the third season in a row. He ended up with 1,021 yards on 204 carries for seven touchdowns. Though his rushing totals went down each year after his sophomore campaign, just being in that ballpark of sustained excellence was a pretty remarkable accomplishment for the elder Duckett brother.
After playing his last season with the Spartans in 1992, Duckett would briefly play with the Washington Redskins before retiring. In four seasons with Michigan State, Duckett finished with 836 carries for 4,212 yards and 26 rushing touchdowns. He ranks third in both attempts and rushing yards in Michigan State history and 10th in rushing touchdowns.
Not reaching 30 career rushing touchdowns won’t have him climb any higher than No. 3 in Michigan State running back lore. However, his sheer volume of carries and yardage should keep him towards the top of this all-time list, not to mention having a younger brother who too had a ton of success donning the green and white in college.