Melvin Gordon III (born April 13, 1993) is an American football running back for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Wisconsin, and was drafted by the Chargers in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
Gordon briefly held the NCAA Division I FBS single-game rushing yards record with 408 yards, set playing in three quarters against Nebraska in November 2014, until it was broken the following week by Oklahoma Sooners running back Samaje Perine against Kansas with 427 yards. He became the second all-time single-season rusher in FBS history with 2,587 yards, falling 41 yards shy of Barry Sanders record of 2,628 yards set in 1988.
Gordon attended Mary D. Bradford High School in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he was a two-sport star for the Red Devils in both football and track. In football, he tallied 1,098 yards and 11 scores on 99 carries, and had five receiving touchdowns, and was an honorable mention All-state and All-region by the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) as a junior. He was a first-team All-state selection by the Associated Press and the WFCA as a senior, after he rushed for 2,009 yards with 38 touchdowns. He was the Wisconsin Gatorade Football Player of the Year.