DeaconMoss
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Dallas Cowboys
Choice was selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. His first career carry came in the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, where he had five attempts for 26 yards. He did not receive another carry until week 7 against the St. Louis Rams, after he replaced fellow rookie Felix Jones as the backup running back, who had suffered a torn hamstring against the Arizona Cardinals in week 6 and later a season ending torn ligament in his left toe during his recovery process.
He was used primarily on special teams until injuries to Marion Barber forced the team to play him against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who at the time had the best defense in the NFL.Choice surprised by registering 23 carries for 88 yards, and five receptions for 78 yards.
This started a stretch of playing time against some of the league's best defenses. The following week against the New York Giants, he rushed 9 times for 91 yards, caught 4 passes for a team-high 52 receiving yards and scored his first career touchdown. On December 20 against the Baltimore Ravens, he rushed 17 times for 90 yards, caught seven passes for 25 yards and scored a touchdown.
He finished his rookie season as a player on the rise, based on his late-season starts where he recorded 472 rushing yards, 185 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns.
Choice began the 2009 season behind Marion Barber and Felix Jones on the depth chart, but injuries to both of those players gave him more playing time in week 3 against the Carolina Panthers, registering 18 carries for 82 yards, 4 catches for 36 yards and one touchdown in a win. On October 11 against the Kansas City Chiefs, he had 8 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown.
After the week 7 game against the Atlanta Falcons his workload was reduced when Barber and Jones returned. The rest of the year he was used mostly in what was called the Razorback formation, which was the team's variation of the Wildcat offense. He finished the season with 349 rushing yards, 132 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns.Because he was seen as a starting-caliber player, the Cowboys received trade offers for Choice, but declined them all.
In 2010, during the season opener he fumbled with four seconds left in the first half, which led to a Washington Commanders' touchdown as time expired that proved to be the difference in the game. Although the call was heavily criticized, after the incident he would not see much action during the team's second worst start in franchise history (one win in their first eight games), that eventually cost the job of head coach Wade Phillips. His special teams shortcomings were also being criticized during the losing streak. On December 5 against the Indianapolis Colts when the season was already lost, he rushed 19 times for 100 yards and a touchdown in a win.
In 2011, the Cowboys drafted DeMarco Murray which put Choice's roster sport in jeopardy, after injuries including a hamstring strain and a minor knee injury limited him to play in only one out of four preseason games. He began the regular season as the backup running back behind Felix Jones.[20] After Jones suffered a sprained ankle, he was named the starting running back in the week 7 game against the St. Louis Rams, but Murray had a performance for the ages, breaking several league and franchise rushing records.
Choice was waived on October 29, with the team deciding to give a bigger role to undrafted rookie Phillip Tanner. He finished his Cowboys career with 250 rushing attempts for 1,139 yards (4.6-yard average), 3 lost fumbles and 8 rushing touchdowns. His longest rushing play went for 66 yards. He also added 64 receptions for 497 yards (7.8-yard average) and no receiving touchdowns.
