Bobby Purify

2004 Media Guide Bio

AT COLORADO: This Season (Sr.)—Enters the fall as CU’s starting tailback, and is coming off a fine spring as the coaches named him the Fred Casotti Award winner as the team’s most outstanding offensive back. Street & Smith’s cited him as a preseason honorable mention All-American, while Athlon selected him to its preseason allBig 12 third-team (Phil Steele’s College Football placed him on its fourth-team). He goes into his senior season ranked 20th all-time in rushing yards at Colorado (1,999), and is 26th in all-purpose yards (2,362) and tied for 49th in receptions (36). His 1,999 career yards are tied for the second most in school history for a player who never led the team in rushing for a single year—Darian Hagan had 2,007 (1988-91) and Carroll Hardy also had 1,999 (1951-54).

2003 (Sr.-RS)—He had his season cut short due to a nasty high ankle sprain in the third game of the year against Washington State; it eventually required surgery and he thus received a medical redshirt for the season. He played in just the three games (two starts), as he rushed 13 times for 31 yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Colorado State, including the game winning score from nine yards out with 40 seconds remaining. He had 22 carries for 80 yards and a TD the following week versus UCLA, and was running hard against Washington State when he went down: he had 17 carries for 56 yards, but of his 62 yards on rushing gains, 59 came after he was first hit. He thus had 167 yards for the season, still the second most on the team, with 14 of his 52 carries going for five or more yards (nine 10-plus). He also caught four passes for 27 yards, two of those for 20 yards in the Washington State game. Going in, he was one of 39 candidates for the Doak Walker Award, was a preseason second-team All-Big 12 choice by The Sporting News and Lindy’s Big 12 Football, while Phil Steele’s College Football had ranked him as the nation’s No. 27 running back entering the season. He was one of 13 players to earn CU’s prestigious Spring Victory Club honors for his efforts during spring drills.

2002 (Jr.)—He earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors from the league coaches, and the CU coaches named him to CU’s prestigious Victory Club. As the second half of the nation’s most prolific 1-2 rushing punch (with Chris Brown), he had 739 yards on 132 carries, a healthy 5.6 average per carry, with three touchdowns. He had a pair of 100-yard games, which came back-to-back when he rushed for 119 yards on 19 tries in CU’s overtime win at Missouri, and followed that up with 174 yards on 20 carries against Iowa State. He had 70-plus yards in five games, and on the year, he had 24 rushes for 10 or more yards and 44 for five or longer. Also dangerous as a receiver, he was second on the team in receiving as well with 21 catches for 224 yards, a 10.7 average; he scored a receiving TD on a 36-yard catch and run against Texas Tech. He was third on the team in first downs earned with 46 (33 rushing, 13 receiving). Overall, he had 96 all-purpose yards, going over 100 yards four times, all against quality opponents (128 at UCLA, 102 at Oklahoma, 128 at Missouri and 183 vs. Iowa State). A nasty high ankle sprain limited him to just a couple of plays in the Big 12 championship game and kept him out of the Alamo Bowl against Wisconsin; otherwise, he appeared in 13 games, including a start at Nebraska. He participated in conditioning drills only in spring ball as he was recovering from shoulder surgery and was thus held out of contact (he had the surgery in January).

2001 (Soph.)—He earned honorable mention all-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press, and also earned his way on to CU’s prestigious Victory Club by grading out with a winning performance in at least eight games. He played in all 13 games including the Fiesta Bowl, making one start (Missouri) as he finished second on the team in rushing with 916 yards on 157 carries, a most healthy 5.8 yards per carry. He ranked eighth in the Big 12 and 62nd in the NCAA in rushing for the season. He scored five touchdowns and also caught 11 passes for 92 yards. He had three 100-plus yard games, topped by a 21-for-191 effort against Colorado State; others included a 20-for-154 day against Nebraska and a 23-for-109 effort at Oklahoma State. He came close on two other occasions with 92 yards against both San Jose State and Missouri. His long run of the year came in the Big 12 title game against Texas, as a 51-yard jaunt helped set up a Buff touchdown. A member of the “hands” team, he recovered an Iowa State on-side kick attempt late in the game to help preserve CU’s 40- 27 win. He rushed six times for 19 yards in the bowl game, with a long run of 15 yards. 2000 (Fr.)—He had the misfortune of breaking a bone in his foot on the first day of practice, forcing him to miss the first six weeks of the season. He bounced back, though, and played in the final five games of the year, including one start (against Oklahoma State). He gained 177 yards on 45 carries, a 3.9 average, on the season, with his best game coming in the snow against Iowa State, when he had 78 yards on just 11 carries. He earned eight first downs on the year.

HIGH SCHOOL—As a senior, he earned PrepStar and SuperPrep AllAmerica honors, with Rivals.com naming him to its Top 100 running backs list (No. 75 nationally) in the preseason, while SuperPrep ranked him as its No. 13 skill athlete. He was a first-team all-Colorado and all-state selection by the Denver Post, while the Rocky Mountain News named him second-team all-state; both newspapers placed him on their state blue chip lists. He earned first-team all-conference honors as a junior and senior (second-team as a sophomore), and he was also honorable mention all-state as a junior (Post). As a senior, he rushed 269 times for 2,102 yards and 24 touchdowns, averaging 7.8 yards per carry and finishing second in the state overall. He also caught eight passes for 115 yards, and had seven games where he rushed for over 200 yards (and five for over 250 yards). He played sporadically on defense as a senior, seeing action at cornerback usually in goal-line situations. He may have led the nation in blocked kicks—he had seven (five extra points and two field goals). As a junior, he led the state’s 5A schools in rushing with 1,865 yards on 295 carries, scoring 23 touchdowns in averaging 6.3 per attempt despite playing tailback in just eight games. He had 14 touchdown runs of 50 yards or longer, and had two interceptions playing free safety and some corner on defense. He rushed 90 times for 700 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore. He had a two 300-yard plus games in his career: the first in a rout of Lakewood his junior year, when he had 17 carries for 360 yards and five TDs—and he only played in the first half. In a 48-42 win over Coronado as a senior, he had 38 carries for 396 yards and five touchdowns; he also had 275 yards and four touchdowns versus Doherty that same year. Palmer was 5-5 his senior year, 3-7 his junior season and 2-8 his sophomore year under coach Rod Baker. He rushed for 71 yards on 16 carries in the All-State game (June 2000) to end his prep career. He lettered three times in basketball (guard), averaging 10 points, seven assists and eight rebounds per game as a senior. He led his team to the 5A state championship and a 24-0 record, as he was named the MVP of the tournament by the Rocky Mountain News. He also lettered in track (high jump and relays). He finished sixth in the state in the high jump as a junior, clearing 6-5.

ACADEMICS—He is majoring in sociology at Colorado, and is on schedule to graduate this December. 

PERSONAL—Born December 19, 1981 in Long Beach, Calif. He is well versed in sign language, which he learned as a sophomore in high school; he helped coach his younger brother’s Pop Warner football team, which had a few deaf youngsters. He has a most famous uncle, Webster Slaughter, who was a wide receiver at San Diego State who went on to stardom in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Houston Oilers. And remember the pop-soul group James & Bobby Purify from the 1960’s? They were cousins—James is his uncle and Bobby his grandfather. They teamed on such songs as ”I’m Your Puppet,” “Let Love Come Between Us,” and a popular remake of “Shake A Tail Feather.” He was the second member of the 2000 class to commit, doing so officially on April 7, 1999.