text: Former Minnesota and NFL running back Laurence Maroney will be in Chicago next week for the annual Big Ten Media Days.
  
  The Gopher great will join Coach Kill for a league-organized autograph session and photo shoot on July 29 that features all 14 Big Ten head coaches and one alum from each team. The ticketed-autograph session will take place from 10-10:50 a.m. at the Hilton Chicago and precedes the 43rd Annual Kickoff Luncheon, which begins at 11:30 a.m.
  
  Maroney was a Rivals.com First Team All-American in 2005 and was named First Team All-Big Ten in both 2004 and 2005. The St. Louis native is Minnesota’s second all-time leading rusher, having amassed 3,933 yards on 660 carries (tied for third all-time) from 2003-2005. He finished his Gopher career with three 200-yard games (tied for first in program history), a 5.96 yards-per-rush average (third all-time in program history in the modern era), 21 100-yard rushing games (second all-time in program history) and 32 touchdowns (fourth all-time in program history). Maroney also caught 21 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown during his collegiate career.
  
  During his All-American season he set a program record rushing of 1,464 yards on 281 attempts (third all-time in program history), while averaging a modern-era program record of 6.92 yards-per-carry. He had eight 100-yard rushing games that year and three 200-yard rushing games, while scoring 10 touchdowns.
  
  Maroney was drafted 21st overall by the New England Patriots in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He is the most recent Minnesota player to be taken in the first round. Maroney, who played four season in New England and one with Denver, played in 49 career NFL games and rushed for 2,504 yards on 618 carries. He also rushed for 21 touchdowns. Maroney caught 44 career passes for 459 yards and one touchdown during his five-year NFL career.