Carl Demetrius McGee (born July 15, 1956) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played one season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. He also played one season for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their h ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played college football at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Early life and education

Carl McGee was born on July 15, 1956, in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. He attended Woodward High School there before playing college football at

. After leading his team to the championship, he was named by ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, alth ...

'' as the high school football player of the year in 1974. He became a starter as soon as he entered the school, becoming one of the top defensive players almost instantly. He made 60 tackles by just week 5. Playing the second half of week 1, McGee made 11 tackles, against the defending champion Southern California. He scored his first career touchdown in his fifth career game, on a 68-yard return against

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. "That was my first touchdown ever. I really didn't think I would go all the way with the interception but when I got to the end zone I was pretty excited," said McGee. Until a shipment of jerseys came, McGee would wear a different number each week, wearing 96, 58, 68, and 36 in his first few games. He recorded 130 tackles and one interception during the following season, being named All-ACC for the second straight year. By the end of his junior year he had compiled 377 tackles. In 1978, McGee said that he senior year goal was to "go out and have a little bit of fun."

Professional career

McGee was selected by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

as the 234th pick of the

1979 NFL Draft The 1979 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 3–4, 1979, at the Waldorf Astoria ...

. A 9th round selection, McGee was released at roster cuts by the Browns. He was then acquired off waivers by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, but released shortly afterwards. In January 1980, he was signed by the

. He was given number 58 with the Chargers, the number he had worn in week one of his freshman season. He spent the beginning of the season on the practice squad, before being promoted to the active roster in early November. He played his first career game in a 13–20 loss against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. He would play in five other games, missing just week 12. He also appeared in their two playoff games, ending when they lost 27–34 in the conference championship. He was released the next season, and did not sign with another team until with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 as ...

a year later. He was released at roster cuts again, this time ending his National Football League (NFL) career. On February 24, 1983, he signed a contract with the Los Angeles Express of the

(USFL). He was released and then signed by the

. He spent a few games on their roster, and played in a couple games. It would be the last team of his professional career.

Early life and education

Professional career

References

Further reading