Todd Gurley II Is Taking the Leap

You might recognize the Rams' Todd Gurley II from a couple places. Most likely the end zone, where he spent most of his third NFL season, scoring thirteen touchdowns on the ground and six by air—that's more TDs to his name than any other running back, and even some starting quarterbacks. (He nabbed Offensive Player of the Year, natch.) Or, if you're an opposing defender, you might recognize Gurley from the goddamn sky. He made a habit of effortlessly hurdling over people on the other team, who were left tackling air, wondering how a six-foot-one, 230-pound man had simply vanished.

So how does Todd Gurley, the 23-year-old centerpiece of the NFL's most powerful offense, do it? Here, he answers that—and why he'd rather be playing basketball.

GQ: You're famous for leaping over defenders. In the moment, how do you decide if you're going to jump over him?
Todd Gurley: It's really like a last-minute decision, man. It's what position my body is in, and it's like my last move… I really don't think about it. It really just happens.

It's worked every time so far, but do you worry that it's kind of…dangerous?
Nah, not really. I mean, it's football, so I've felt worse.

Do you train for it?
Nah, man. I've done hurdles in high school. I was just always good at that.

It almost feels like something out of Madden.
It's unexpected, for sure. Most of the time it's when the defenders are trying to go low on your legs or your knees. You just feel like you could hurdle them without losing your momentum.

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Defenders are going low today, so maybe the jump is a good response to that.
Yeah, all the new rules in the NFL—staying away from the head/neck area—has forced defenders to go low nowadays.

Do you think we'll see more running backs that'll start leaping?
There will be more hurdling for sure.

You said you did track. Did you always want to play football?
I always did football, man. I played basketball. That's everyone's real dream, but that didn't work out too well.

So if you could just magically take all your talents and become a basketball player, you would do that?
Oh yeah, most definitely.

What team would you want to play on?
Right now? Shit, I'd be on the Cavs, hanging out with LeBron. [Ed Note: This conversation was during the NBA Finals.] I could be that guy that could get at least 15 for him. J. R. [Smith] don't want to get nothing.

I saw you were recently helping train kids at Jameis Winston's camp. Do you like working with kids?
Yeah, man. It's fun just to get to see different kids from different cities, see youth develop, help those guys develop their skills. They have a great time with us just being out there.

What's the most surprising thing that happened at camp?
A kid told me the other day, "I got four of your jerseys. I got two home jerseys, one away, and a throwback jersey."

That means he bought more than one jersey per season you've been in the NFL.
I said, "Dang man." And he's like, "Yeah, I'm really your number one fan." I hadn't met anyone with four of my jerseys before.

Okay, I have to admit: I'm a Seahawks fan, and I'm thinking about changing allegiances after the team denied Kaepernick a try-out. Why should I become a Rams fan?
Because we're the new wave, man. Every year has new teams. You look at the Seahawks, they were good for their time. Every team had their time, and right now it's the Rams' time. We have to maximize that opportunity and the amount of years together. We're building something. We started off last year just making the playoffs, so we know what the taste of that is.

Do you play Madden as the Rams?
Of course.

So are you just always running the ball then?
Running the ball and throwing interceptions. Bro, I'm always throwing picks. I'm so terrible.

I feel like you could just blame your teammates, though. If the running is going great, that's on you.
Exactly. I'm good. But then I start fumbling and stuff. I'll be running myself to death. Get like 30 to 35 carries…

And you're like, Something is wrong with the code. I would never fumble.
Yeah, the only time I throw the ball is when [the Madden version of me] has to come out of the game.

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