Athletes - Mike Pringle

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	Athletes - Mike Pringle

Mike Pringle (b. October 1, 1967 in Los Angeles, California) is an American-born Canadian football running back, who in a fifteen-year career in the Canadian Football League set or tied almost every significant record for his position. He, along with George Reed, is one of the players most often mentioned as being the greatest running back in CFL history.

Pringle played his college football at California State University, Fullerton, where he played well enough to be selected 190th overall by the Atlanta Falcons in the 1990 NFL draft. However, Pringle would never play a down in the National Football League, and spent most of the 1990 NFL season on the practice roster (although he dressed for the final three games). The final cut from Atlanta's 1991 training camp, Pringle, like fellow Cal-State Fullerton alumni Damon Allen and Allen Pitts, went on to the Canadian Football League, where he quickly became one of the best players in league history at his position.

Early career

Pringle entered the CFL in time for the 1992 CFL season, with the Edmonton Eskimos. In three games, Pringle received 22 carries for 129 yards, posting a respectable rushing average in limited action. However, the Eskimos were not high on Pringle and released him, causing him to spend the rest of 1992 with the Sacramento Surge of the World League of American Football.

However, in 1993, Pringle resurfaced with the CFL's Sacramento Gold Miners, remaining in the same city but switching leagues. In Sacramento, Pringle became an everyday player, although not a frequent option in the ground game. He racked up 366 yards and four touchdowns in his only season with the Gold Miners, before being traded in the offseason to the team where he would make his most lasting mark, the then-Baltimore Football Club, later to become the Baltimore Stallions.

The Baltimore years

Going into his third CFL season, Pringle had run the ball 82 times for less than five hundred yards: less than half a season's work for a starting CFL running back. Despite his lack of carries, however, Pringle became the starting back in Baltimore, and immediately responded to the opportunity. The 27-year old went loose in Baltimore, running for a record 1,972 yards and thirteen touchdowns, narrowly missing becoming the first CFL running back to reach the elusive 2,000 yards rushing milestone. He even returned 38 kicks for 814 yards and, in his first CFL playoff appearance, rang up 165 yards in two playoff games to lead Baltimore to their first Grey Cup appearance, where they lost the 82nd Grey Cup to the British Columbia Lions 26-23 on Lui Passaglia's last-minute 38-yard field goal. It is widely heralded as one of the best CFL games ever.

Compared to his remarkable 1994 season, 1995 was a slight dropoff for Pringle, but still a remarkable season by any standard. His rushing totals declined to a "mere" 1,791 yards, and while his yards-per-carry fell by .6 from 6.4 to 5.8, his statistics were still the best any back posted in the CFL that year. To top it off, Pringle was a playoff workhorse, as he ran for 484 playoff yards and four touchdowns in three games. On the strong, powerful legs of Pringle, the Baltimore Stallions made their second straight appearance in the Grey Cup. This time, the Stallions would not be denied, taking the famous "Wind Bowl" over the Calgary Stampeders 37-20.

After his two incredible seasons in Baltimore, Pringle naturally began to attract more attention from the National Football League. The Denver Broncos signed Pringle to a free agent contract for the 1996 NFL season, but he was a late cut from training camp.

Pringle the Alouette

With no other NFL teams expressing interest in his abilities, Pringle returned to the CFL, following the relocated Baltimore franchise and joining the newly christened Montréal Alouettes late in the season. Pringle played only eight games but rushed for 825 yards and five touchdowns.

It was in 1997 that Pringle once again took his place as the CFL's best running back. His 1,775 yard season was his worst in a full season as a starter, but it was still an extremely strong season. With the Alouettes lacking in playoff success and their attendance at Olympic Stadium flagging, Pringle was one of the team's few bright spots in a disappointing year. But for the 1998 season, the Als moved permenantly to the smaller Percival Molson Stadium, where they regularly drew sell-out crowds. They came to watch the Alouettes, especially Pringle, and he would not disappoint.

Pringle's 1998 CFL season stands out with Doug Flutie's 48-touchdown 1994 as one of the greatest CFL seasons an offensive player ever had. Pringle ran for only nine touchdowns but nobody in the league much cared: the story was his 2,065 rushing yards that year, a CFL record by a considerable margin. Pringle became the first, and so far only, man in CFL history to run for over 2,000 yards (a feat considerably more difficult in the pass-centric CFL than in the more balanced NFL). At 31 years old, Pringle had hit his prime with a bang, and though he would never approach 2,000 yards again, he continued to be an elite back for several years.

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