Gerald Lynn McNeil (born March 27, 1962) 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 ...

wide receiver and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position ...

who played 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 five seasons with 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 ( ...

and

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 ...

. He also played in 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) for two seasons with the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

. The lightest player in the NFL, McNeil was nicknamed "The Ice Cube" because he was small and difficult for tacklers to grab hold of. He was drafted in 1984 and selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1987. Known for his explosive returning ability, McNeil scored four touchdowns in his NFL career, including an 84-yard punt return against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and a 100-yard kickoff return against 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 ...

Early years

McNeil was born in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. He attended

Killeen High School Killeen High School is a 5A public high school located in Killeen, Texas, USA. It is one of seven high schools in the Killeen Independent School District, which is located in western Bell County. In 2011, the school was rated "Academically Acce ...

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in Bell County, Texas, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is the principal city ...

. McNeil played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

, from 1980 to 1983. He earned All-American honors as a wide receiver. One of his teammates was future

quarterback

Cody Carlson Matthew Cody Carlson (born November 5, 1963) is a former professional American football player who was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 3rd round of the 1987 NFL Draft. A 6'3", 200-lb. quarterback from Baylor University, Carlson played in s ...

. McNeil's brother, Pat, also played football at Baylor. In his four seasons at Baylor, McNeil caught 163 passes for 2,651 yards, returned 101 punts for 886 yards, returned 31 kickoffs for 573 yards, and scored 17 touchdowns. He set school records for receptions and receiving yards which still stand among the top ten all-time to the present day.

Professional football career

USFL

McNeil was selected by the

San Antonio Gunslingers The San Antonio Gunslingers were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, that played in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984 and 1985. Owned by oil magnate Clinton Manges, the team played its home games in ...

in the

1984 USFL Territorial Draft The 1984 USFL Territorial Draft was the second Territorial Draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 4, 1984, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. It included six new expansion teams. Player selections , - , ...

. He was later traded to the

. In his two seasons with the Gamblers, he caught 91 passes for 1,518 yards, returned 69 punts for 830 yards, returned two kickoffs for 62 yards, and scored ten touchdowns. He was the USFL's leading punt returner in 1985.

NFL

McNeil was selected by the

in the second round of the

1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players The 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players was a one-time draft of United States Football League and Canadian Football League players, held in the spring of 1984. Reason for the draft In New York City on Tuesday, June 5, startin ...

. He made his NFL debut in 1986 and played four seasons with the Browns, then played his fifth and final season with the

. In 1987 he made the pro bowl as a kick returner, returning 34 punts for 387 yards and a career best 11.4 yards per return average. In his five NFL seasons, McNeil caught 29 passes for 380 yards, returned 191 punts for 1,717 yards, returned 91 kickoffs for 1,852 yards, and scored four touchdowns. In 1986, McNeil was the only player in the NFL and the first since 1978 to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same season. Although McNeil's listed weight was , McNeil stated in a March 2013 interview that "I usually came in around 140 pounds, but a lot of times I would lose 10, 12 pounds during the season very easily, so I played most of the time between 125 and 130." (Relevant question is asked at 38:50. McNeil's exact quote is at 39:59.)

References

External links

Entry at pro-football-reference.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Gerald 1962 births Living people American football wide receivers American football return specialists Baylor Bears football players Cleveland Browns players American Conference Pro Bowl players Houston Oilers players Houston Gamblers players