Mark Ingram is an American football player who followed in his father’s footsteps and has become an important player in the National Football League (NFL) where he played for the New Orleans Saints as a running back, and now for the Baltimore Ravens. He is said to have performed exceedingly better than his father in most of his games.
His dad, Mark Ingram Sr. was noted as one of the best football players in the country in his heyday. The older Ingram did not only inspire the career of his son but as you would soon learn, is very much responsible for the successes he has enjoyed in the league.
His Childhood Prepared Him for a Career in the NFL
Everything about Mark Ingram is quite interesting; he has a strong charisma that enables him to pull the crowd while at his games. His foundation as an athlete was laid by his father who is known to be a legendary professional footballer in his time. Mark has been absent from several games as a result of his ordeal with drugs yet he has bagged a lot of achievements more than most athletes who have never stayed out of their games.
It is quite interesting to know that Ingram was born with an athletic gene. Raised with three other children, Mark Valentino Ingram, born on December 21, 1989, is the only son of his parents. His interest in sports was engineered by his father when he was younger as he learned a lot of his skills from the older Ingram.
Mark Ingram’s career as a professional footballer was inspired by his father who also guided and helped him become a formidable player in high school and college football levels with the ultimate goal of joining the NFL. Now a part of the league, the running back surely owes what he’s become to the training he got from his father.
His father, Mark Ingram Sr. played as a wide receiver for different football clubs in the NFL. Although retired, his tremendous performances with the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, Green Bay Packers, and the Philadelphia Eagles are etched in history.
Unveiling His Amateur Years as a Footballer
Grand Blanc Community High School was where he first showed his athletic prowess. He spent a few years there before moving over to Flint Southwestern Academy where he overshadowed most of his peers academically and in sports. While at the high school, he was quite an athletic star, participating in football, sprint, and long jump. By the end of his time in high school, he had acquired a lot of awards.
Upon graduation, Mark Ingram enrolled at the University of Alabama on a scholarship. He played football with the Alabama Crimson Tide and was noted for his excellent performances on the field. With the team, he had a remarkable year in 2009 that won him the Heisman Trophy. Also, he became a SEC Champion and BCS National Champion. Mark was also named to the First-team All-SEC and Unanimous All-American that same year. In addition to that, he was honored as Sporting News Player of the Year and the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.
He decided to forgo his senior years of college eligibility to go professional and got drafted in the 2011 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints; they picked him as 28th overall in the first round.
How Mark Ingram Began His NFL Journey With The Saints
After Mark Ingram got drafted, he signed a four-year deal with the Saints worth $7.41. The deal also handed him a $3.89 million signing bonus. However, Ingram suffered some injuries that set him back but he was able to manage five touchdowns and 474 rushing yards at the end of his rookie season. This improved the following season as he finished with five rushing touchdowns and 602 rushing yards. The 2013 season wasn’t better as he only managed one rushing touchdown and 386 rushing yards.
Things improved for him in 2014 as he finished the season with 145 receiving yards and 964 rushing yards. Mark was selected for his first Pro Bowl that season. He kept up with the pace and pulled off six touchdowns, 405 receiving and 769 rushing yards in the 2015 season. It was at the beginning of that season that the Saints extended his contract by signing him up for another four years in a deal worth $16 million.
Mark Ingram remained an important payer for the Saints in the years that followed. He was named to his second Pro Bowl in 2017 and was ranked by fellow players as 43rd among the Top 100 NFL Players of 2018.
He Joined The Baltimore Ravens In 2019
The 2018 NFL season was a troubled one for Mark Ingram as he was suspended for the first four games for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing drugs. Nonetheless, he was able to finish the season with 21 receptions for 170 yards and one touchdown, in addition to 645 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
His time with the Saints came to an end that season and it marked the beginning of his journey with the Ravens. It was sometime in March 2019 that the side signed Mark to a three-year $15 million contract.
Time would gradually unveil his attainments with the Ravens but the running back has already hinted at having a swell time with the side. He finished the 2019 season with a remarkable 1,018 rushing yards and ten touchdowns, in addition to 26 receptions for 247 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. Give this fine stats, it is not a surprise that he got named to his third Pro Bowl in 2019.
Mark Ingram Is Married To Chelsea Peltin-Brown
A look at Mark Ingram Jr.’s relationship profile reveals that he has good taste when it comes to women. He is married to Chelsea Peltin-Brown. The two got affianced sometime in July 2016 and later took a bold walk down the aisle in a small ceremony on April 3, 2017. Records have it that they had their honeymoon at an Island. So far, their union has produced four children, three girls, and a boy. The youngest named Mayla was born on the 28th of October 2019.
Mark Valentino Ingram II is Mayla’s immediate older sibling and he was born sometime in March 2019. Mayla and Mark have two older sisters named Mila and Myla.
Apart from being a stay at home wife, Chelsea has trodden the path of a fitness trainer despite having a degree in Broadcast Journalism from California State University. She uses her social media platforms in educating the world on various work out procedures.
Being married to a fitness trainer, you sure bet that Mark needs no reminder for his days at the gym as his wife would surely do better than an alarm clock.
Who Are Other Members of His Family?
Apart from Mark Ingram’s father, his wife, and kids, his family life also revolves around his three sisters named Malia, Mia, and Miya. Although it is hard to tell what they have been up to, Mark has maintained a good relationship with them just as he does with his mother Shonda Ingram.
After his father was jailed for his involvement in money laundering and fraud, Mark strove to keep the family together and has succeeded in doing so. His mother once spoke glowingly of him, asserting that he learned how to love and be a good man from how he was raised.
