Curtis McNeal (born December 3, 1989) 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 ...

running back. McNeal signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

as an undrafted rookie free agent, after playing collegiately for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. He signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on May 7, 2014.

Early years

McNeal was born in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He attended Venice High School in Los Angeles and graduated in 2008. As a junior in 2006, he made Cal-Hi Sports All-State Underclass second-team and All-L.A. City first-team while running for 2,008 yards with 42 touchdowns and getting 3,106 all-purpose yards. In his career, he ran for more than 4,000 yards. His 2007 honors included Super Prep All-American, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-West, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West Best of the Rest, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second-team and All-L.A. He was named City Offensive MVP as a senior running back and defensive back at Venice High. As a senior, McNeal ran for 1,400 yards on 136 carries (10.3 avg.) with 19 touchdowns, added 278 receiving yards and scored touchdowns by rushing and receiving, as well as an interception and punt return.

College career

In 2008 McNeal accepted an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

to attend the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

and play for the

USC Trojans football The USC Trojans football program represents University of Southern California in the sport of American football. The Trojans compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Pac-12 Con ...

team. McNeal redshirted as a freshman tailback in 2008, his first year at USC, then saw limited action at tailback as a redshirt freshman in 2009, when he was primarily used as a returner and on special teams, and missed the 2010 season after being declared academically ineligible as a sophomore. McNeal broke out as a junior in 2011 with 145 carries for a team-best 1,005 yards (6.9 avg.) and 6 touchdowns. McNeal came off the bench at Notre Dame in 2011 and had a game-high and then-career-best 118 yards on 24 carries (he also caught a 4-yard pass). He had a then-career-high and game-best 145 yards on 20 carries with 2 touchdowns (61 and 25 yards) off the bench against Stanford. At Colorado, he got his first career start and had 87 yards on 10 carries. Against Washington, he ran for a career-best 148 yards on 18 carries, including a 79-yard touchdown burst (USC's longest run since Reggie Bush's 81-yard touchdown run at UCLA in 2004) to earn USC's "Jack Oakie Rise and Shine Award." He had a team-best 94 yards on 20 carries at Oregon and then a game-best 124 yards on 12 carries with a 73-yard touchdown run against UCLA. He became USC's 27th 1,000-yard rusher in a season. His 6.9-yard average per carry was the best by a Trojan with at least 10 carries per game since

Reggie Bush Reginald Alfred Bush Jr. (born March 2, 1985) is an American former football running back who now serves as an on-air college football analyst for Fox Sports. He played college football at USC, where he earned consensus All-American honors twi ...

's 8.7 in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Professional career

McNeal signed with the

after being undrafted in the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. On August 7, 2013, McNeal was waived/injured by the Steelers. On August 8, 2013, he cleared waivers and was placed on the injured reserve list. On August 16, 2013, he was waived with an injury settlement.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcneal, Curtis 1989 births Living people American football running backs Players of American football from Los Angeles USC Trojans football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles