Had respectable college years from 2004-06, but burst onto the scene with titanic 07 effort rushing for 2127 yards and 23 TDs on 361 carries playing for Tulane.
First round selection of the Chicago Bears in 2008, almost immediately became a Fantasy Football darling for the next 7 additional seasons.
Rushed for 1238 yards and 8 TDs in rookie year, while catching 63 passes for 477 yards and 4 TDs.
In every year with Bears, never failed to have less than 1250 yards from scrimmage.
Rushed for over 1000 yards 5 times, while narrowly missing the mark two more additional times.
Best season came arguably in 2013, rushing for 1339 yards and 9 TDs on 289 carries, while also catching 74 passes for 594 yards.
Caught a career high 101 passes for 808 yards during following season in 2014.
Signed with Jets in 2016, and still managed to post 1076 total yards from scrimmage (813 rushing, 263 receiving).
Retired after the 2017 season and signed a one day contract in 2018 to retire a Bear.
ACCOLADES:
Pro Bowl 2011, 13
2008 NFL All-Rookie Team
100 Greatest Chicago Bears of All-Time
A superior athlete and frequently the best player on the field- among the best in a long line of Bears runningbacks.
-Bears Chairman George McCaskey
NOTES:
Well as COVID began to break out across the country and people started losing jobs EBay started lighting up with great values and snipes I could have for pennies. This was probably the best steal I got. Crazy how long ago it all seems.
I remember my company (at the time) telling us that we were going to work from home the next two weeks. We all sort of took it in stride because it was during Spring Break, so it felt good to get out of the office and WFH.
I was keeping a lid on it though. I got out early and went and got my kid from daycare and informed them we wouldn’t be back until this cleared up… maybe… 3 months or so right? We rushed all over town stopping at multiple stores. Things were getting cleared out but I was piecemealing it together so we could bunk down for 2 weeks.
Then the weeks and months went by. COVID didn’t get better. It got worse. At first we were really fine with it. We saved a ton of money and financially I got myself into a better place, but as time drug on, eventually things got back to a new normal- in its own, strange way.
CARD: Playoff Contenders European Contenders 2000 Leaf Rookies & Stars 2000 ACQUIRED: 2021, Future Considerations. TTM 2022, C/o Home
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
The most acclaimed of Central College’s runningbacks, ran for an astounding career 5855 yards on 928 carries.
Saw time in camp with the Bears (97), Eagles (99), Colts/Giants (00).
Assigned to NFL Europe by the Eagles to play for the Frankfurt Galaxy in 1999, winning the World Bowl that year.
Ran for 192 yards on 43 carries, and caught 9 passes for 72 yards for Frankfurt.
Played one final season with the Amsterdam Admirals in 2000.
Rushed for 212 yards on 73 carries, and caught 14 passes for 104 yards for the Admirals.
ACCOLADES:
Iowa High School Sports Hall of Fame
Leaf Rookies & Stars 2000, #274
NOTES:
Mark during his college days was featured in a two page profile spread in Sports Illustrated (print).
He was pretty easy to find on the internet, so I went ahead and dropped him his Leaf card in the mail to sign. He responded and attached a nice sticky note to the card.
Topps XFL 2020, #175Topps XFL 2020 Stars of the XFL, #24
CARDS: Topps XFL 2020 Green #83/99, Topps XFL 2020 Stars of the XFL ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home SENT: 6/29/20 RECEIVED: 1/25/21 (210 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
After going undrafted in 2015, was signed by the Houston Texans as a free agent.
Had a solid preseason, but with a logger jam at TE, the Texans traded Khari to Chicago.
Cut by the Bears in 2016, joined the Lions for 2016/17.
Claimed by the Bills in 2017, but later waived in 2018.
Selected in the 5th round of the 2019 XFL Draft by the DC Defenders.
After league ended season prematurely due to COVID, Khari signed with the Falcons in 2020.
Given an injury settlement, and joined Lions briefly for second stint.
NOTES:
When Khari was drafted by the DC Defenders I knew he’d be a solid fit for the team. I thought he was going to be a good fit with the Texans, especially based on what I saw. I ended up nabbing him with one of the final picks of my XFL Fantasy Draft, and he helped my team go undefeated in 2020 catching 8 passes, with 2 of them going for 2 TDs.
He kindly signed these cards for me- but did so, much to my chagrin, on the back. Khari also sent me back an extra autographed base card, that I sent off to my friend Mark, who had received cards back from Khari, but they were unsigned.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
