Samaje Perine

Early life

Perine was born and raised in Jackson, Alabama, but later moved with his family to Pflugerville, Texas, where he attended Hendrickson High School as a member of their football and track and field teams. He was a three-year starter at running back for the Hendrickson Hawks football team. He rushed for 1,993 yards and 16 touchdowns as a junior. In his final year, he rushed for 1,492 yards and 12 touchdowns.

In track & field, Perine competed in sprints and jumps. At the 2011 Manor Relay, he earned first-place finishes in both the triple jump (46 ft, 0.5 in) and long jump (20 ft, 8 in) events, while also anchoring the 4 × 100 and 4 × 200 relay squads, helping lead them to victory. He recorded a personal-best time of 11.37 seconds in the 100-meter dash in 2011.

Perine was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 13 running back in the nation by Rivals.com. In March 2013, he committed to the University of Oklahoma to play college football. He also had offers from Alabama, Nebraska, TCU, and Tennessee.

College career

Perine attended and played college football for the University of Oklahoma from 2014 to 2016.

2014 season

Perine saw immediate playing time as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2014. In his first career game, he rushed for 77 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown in a victory over Louisiana Tech. In his fourth game, he rushed 242 yards on 34 carries with four touchdowns. He rushed for 200 yards a second time, gaining 213 on 25 carries along with three touchdowns against Texas Tech on November 15. Perine rushed for 427 yards on 34 rushes along with five touchdowns in a victory over Kansas, breaking the Football Bowl Subdivision single game rushing record set by Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon just a week earlier. He finished his freshman season with 1,713 rushing yards on 263 carries with 21 touchdowns.

2015 season

Perine started the 2015 season with 33 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in a victory over the Akron Zips. In the next game, a double overtime win over the #23 Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium, he had 78 rushing yards and a receiving touchdown. In the following game against Tulsa, Perine had 152 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. On October 24, against Texas Tech, he had a season-high 201 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns. Perine followed that performance up with 90 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against Kansas in the next game. On November 14, against Baylor, he had 166 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Perine followed that performance up with 188 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown against TCU. In the annual rivalry game against Oklahoma State, he had 131 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Oklahoma qualified for the College Football Playoff, and faced off against Clemson in the National Semifinals. In the 37–17 loss in the Orange Bowl, he had 58 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, two receptions, and 23 receiving yards. Overall, in the 2015 season, Perine finished with 1,349 rushing yards, 16 rushing touchdowns, 15 receptions, 107 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown.

2016 season

On October 1, in a win over TCU, Perine had 214 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On November 12, against Baylor, he had 100 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In the following game at West Virginia, Perine had 160 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On December 3, he had 239 rushing yards and a touchdown against Oklahoma State. He broke the school career rushing yard record on January 2, 2017, with 86 rushing yards and a touchdown against Auburn at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, passing Billy Sims with a total of 4,122 yards. Perine finished the 2016 season with 1,060 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 10 receptions, 106 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown. After the season, Perine decided to forgo his senior year and enter the 2017 NFL draft.

Personal life

During his time in high school and Oklahoma, Perine was noted for his acts of great physical strength, such as helping lift a car to help a fellow student who did not have a car jack in order to change a flat tire. Jerry Schmidt, strength coach of the Sooners, stated that he could often out bench press most of the team's linemen, with his max being 440 lbs. Schmidt also noted that nobody else on the team was able to top Perine's max squat (540 lbs), power clean (380 lbs), or incline bench (315 lbs) numbers.

Perine's cousin, La'Mical Perine, played running back for the Florida Gators and was selected by the New York Jets in 2020. He is also a cousin of NFL linebacker Myles Jack.