The average length of an NFL career is short – about three years. For running backs, it's often shorter.
So recently, one of Ameer Abdullah's brothers joked with the Colts running back: "You're on your fourth career now."
The 32-year-old Abdullah is in his 11th season in the NFL. He's one of two active running backs in Year 11, along with the Las Vegas Raiders' Raheem Mostert. Abdullah has never had more than 600 rushing yards in a season; beyond that, he hasn't had over 500 rushing yards since 2017, his third season with the Detroit Lions.
Yet Abdullah is not just sticking around the NFL, hanging on the fringes while waiting for another shot. He's thriving in the roles asked of him.
"I still have fun with it," Abdullah said. "I think every year the game evolves to a different space that I can still mold to."
Abdullah joined the Colts' practice squad in September and was signed to the 53-man roster a few weeks later. The Colts are asking Abdullah to back up Jonathan Taylor – he ran in a touchdown in Week 5 – and provide a veteran voice in their running back room; Abdullah is also tasked with several roles on special teams. He's played gunner on punt coverage and is a part of the Colts' kick coverage unit; he's also returned a few kicks, including an 81-yarder against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 7.
Beyond those roles, Abdullah is the exact type of player teams – including the Colts – love having around because of the example he sets with his work ethic and process to prepare for whatever roles he's asked to fill. There's a reason why Abdullah, in his 11 years, has played at least three seasons with three of the five clubs he's been with.
Head coach Shane Steichen recalled being in the Colts' training room a day after Abdullah signed and seeing the team's newest running back doing some ankle mobility work at 6 a.m. Steichen grabbed his phone and looked up how long he's been in the NFL.
"This guy is in Year 11 for a reason," Steichen thought to himself.
"It made all the sense in the world," Steichen said last week. "... He's prepared, he's got a routine. ... To see that come to fruition and him being on the practice squad and getting the opportunity and he's done so many great things in this league, just phenomenal to see for him."
Abdullah has honed that process over the last decade, picking up different things from different teammates. Those guys he's shared a locker room with range from Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford in Detroit to Stefon Diggs and Dalvin Cook in Minnesota to Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton in Carolina to Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs in Las Vegas.
"Having a Calvin Johnson on the team, a guy who was long-tenured and one of the greatest of all time, just to see how stoic he was to his process as well," Abdullah said. "It was like, man, it don't matter who you are, you have to have a process."
Abdullah hasn't just picked up things from the superstars he's played with, too – while in college at Nebraska, he learned from Rex Burkhead, who went on to a 10-year NFL career after leaving Lincoln. With the Lions, Abdullah's veteran was Theo Riddick, who lasted seven seasons as a pro after a successful college tenure at Notre Dame.
Now, with the Colts, Abdullah is the veteran – he's been in the NFL longer than any other player on the team, having made his debut on Sept. 13, 2015; Taylor was a junior in high school then.
"You're talking about a legend right there," Taylor said. "I mean, I think every running back in the league right now has watched Ameer, especially in college and then his transition into the league. So, being able to pick his brain, how has he been able to last this long in this league at this position, and obviously you guys have seen he's been a huge spark for us as well. So, it's actually been really nice. It's been really nice to have Ameer here."
Fellow running back Tyler Goodson, who's in his fourth year in the NFL and third season with the Colts, echoed Taylor's sentiment.
"You can tell just by the way he operates, prepares for Sundays and just practices that he's been in this league for a long time," Goodson said. "...For me, it opens up my mind, makes me want to pick his brain. Like, what are the type of things you doing to maintain, to keep your body going – your muscles, joints, whatever the case may be to stay available. And he's just been a good mentor for me and a good example for this team."
Abdullah credits the person and player he is today to his upbringing. He's the youngest of nine, and his parents, Kareem and Aisha, instilled strong values in him as a child. The rest of his siblings are all extremely successful – his sister, Halimah, is a veteran political journalist in Washington D.C.; his brother, Kareem, is a sound designer in Los Angeles; other siblings are attorneys, pharmacists, investment consultants and the like.
And there's Ameer, the football player – and a successful one at that.
"We all had to kind of create our own lanes," Abdullah said. "I always joke that when my mom and dad got to me, the youngest, they were like 'hey, figure it out.' I always had to kind of force my own way and use my own voice more than anything to create a foundational platform for me to be received in whatever space I was in. They were huge advocates on, if you see something, speak up. If you feel some type of way, speak your truth, and then from there we can meet, find a common ground, which is something I feel like helps some of the coaches and staffs that I've been around."
All these pieces of who Abdullah is have given him the runway for a decade-plus NFL career. The other part: Abdullah had 326 rushing attempts over his first three seasons in the NFL; over his last eight, he's had 175.
"My career has been interesting enough where, only in my first three years I was the main guy," Abdullah said. "I took a lot of pounding. Since then I've been 2A, 2B sometimes, and the pounding has been on me as much.
"So a lot of guys say 32 but it's like honestly, man, I feel like I move better than some of these younger dudes."
And as long as Abdullah continues to operate with the professionalism he's known for, and make the sort of plays the Colts have seen when he gets an opportunity, the 32-year-old's remarkable NFL career will continue as long as he wants it to keep going.
I feel like I can still give a lot to this game," Abdullah said, "so I'm just taking it one year at a time."
