Jamaal RaShaad Jones Charles (born December 27, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he won the 2006 Rose Bowl, and was selected by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft.
Charles began his career as a backup to halfback Larry Johnson, rushing only 67 times for 357 yards in his rookie season. His breakout season came the following year in 2009. In his second year, Charles rushed 190 times for 1,120 yards, despite only starting 10 games after Johnson was suspended. Shortly thereafter, Johnson was released, leaving Charles as Kansas City's starting halfback. Over the next several seasons he would make four Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams, and would lead the league in rushing touchdowns in 2013. Charles later suffered injuries, which lead to him appearing in just five games in 2015 and 2016, and he was eventually released by the team.
Charles then played a season for the Denver Broncos and had a 2-game stint for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018. He is the all-time leader in yards per carry among players with at least 1,000 carries with 5.4 yards per carry.
Charles has reported being diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, having difficulty reading, and being mocked and teased. In 2015, he shared his experience including being invited to participate in the Special Olympics: "[...] I was afraid. I was lost. When I was a boy, I had trouble reading. I found out I had a learning disability. People made fun of me. They said I would never go anywhere. But I learned I can fly. When I was 10 years old, I had a chance to compete in the Special Olympics. That's right, the Special Olympics gave me my first chance to discover the talent I did not know that I had. When I competed in the Special Olympics, I found out just how fast I was. I stood high on the podium, getting the gold medal in track and field."
Charles attended and played high school football for Memorial High School of Port Arthur, Texas. As a junior, he ran for 2,051 yards and 25 touchdowns while leading Memorial to the 5A Division II quarterfinals. He was named first-team all-state by the Texas Sports Writers Association and second-team all-state by the Associated Press.
Charles followed up his stellar junior season by rushing for 2,056 yards and 25 touchdowns during his senior year with the Titans. The Associated Press named him to their first-team all-state squad and he was declared the Houston Chronicle area offensive MVP. Charles was also named to the 2005 Parade All-America Football Team and was the District 22-5A Player of the Year his senior year. Charles participated in the 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Charles is a two-time recipient of the Willie Ray Smith Award, which is given to the southeast Texas offensive MVP.
Charles was also a standout track athlete at Port Arthur (TX) Memorial. In the summer between his sophomore and junior years, Charles won the bronze medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Athletics. He went on to win the 110m hurdles and 300m hurdles Texas 5A state championships with times of 13.69 and 36.03 seconds, respectively, his senior year.
Charles attended the university of Texas from 2005 to 2008, where he was a two-sport athlete in football and track.
Charles attended and played college football for the University of Texas from 2005 to 2007 under head coach Mack Brown.
In his true freshman season with the Longhorns, Charles was an contributor in a backfield that included Vince Young as a dual-threat quarterback.
In his collegiate debut against Louisiana-Lafayette, he had 14 carries for 135 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 60–3 victory. His 135 yards set the school record for rushing yards in a freshman debut.
Against Ohio State, he caught 6 passes for 69 yards, which was the 4th most receptions in a game by a freshman in school history at the time.
Two weeks later, against Rice, he had 16 carries for 189 rushing yards, the second most by a Longhorn freshman in school history at the time, and three rushing touchdowns in the 51–10 victory.
On October 8, in the Red River Showdown against Oklahoma, he had nine carries for 116 rushing yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run that was one of the 10 longest in school history and the 2nd most by a freshman at the time, in the 45–12 victory. Texas ended up going 11–0 in the regular season to earn a berth in the Big 12 Championship Game against Colorado. Against the Buffaloes, he had seven carries for 62 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 70–3 victory. The victory put Texas in the National Championship Game in the Rose Bowl against the USC Trojans. He had five carries for 34 rushing yards in the 41–38 victory as Texas claimed a perfect season and National Championship.
Overall, Charles rushed 119 times for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. He finished second on the team in rushing attempts and rushing yards and third in rushing touchdowns. He tied Cedric Benson for the school record for touchdowns by a freshman in a season with 11. He finished in the top 10 for freshman at Texas for touchdowns (11 for 2nd most), points (78 for 3rd most), 100-yard games (3 for 3rd most) and rushing yards (878 for 5ht most). He and Henry Melton set the school record for touchdowns, with 21, by a pair of freshman running backs and had the 2nd most yards.
At the end of the season he was named 2nd-team All-Big 12.
In the 2006 season, the Longhorns' rushing offense dropped significantly from the prior year going from 274.9 yards per game to 162.6 yards per game. Despite the down year for the rushing offense and sharing the backfield with Selvin Young, Charles's production remained consistent compared to his freshman year. He went over 100 rushing yards once, which was against in-state rival Rice in the Longhorns' third game, a 52–7 victory. He found the endzone on the ground twice on November 11 against Kansas State in a 45–42 loss. He had a 72-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Colt McCoy, which was the 4th longest reception in school history and the 5th longest offensive play in a bowl game in school history at the time, in the 2006 Alamo Bowl 26–24 victory over Iowa. Overall, he finished with 831 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 18 receptions, 183 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown.