Javon McKinley (born April 10, 1998) is an

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 who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. He 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 ...

at Notre Dame.

Early life and high school

McKinley grew up in

Corona, California Corona (Spanish for "Crown") is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 157,136, up from 152,374 at the 2010 census. The cities of Norco and Riverside lie to the north and north ...

and attended Centennial High School. He was named the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' All-Area Back of the Year and ''

The Press-Enterprise ''The Press-Enterprise'' is a paid daily newspaper published by Digital First Media that serves the Inland Empire in Southern California. Headquartered in downtown Riverside, California, it is the primary newspaper for Riverside County, with he ...

'' All-Area Offensive Player of the Year after 97 receptions for 2,062 yards and 25 touchdowns in his junior season. As a senior, McKinley caught 56 passes for 1,173 yards and 13 touchdowns and played in the All-America Bowl.

College career

McKinley played in six games as a freshman before breaking his left fibula in practice. The injury caused him to miss the entirety of his sophomore season. McKinley played in four games as a junior. Shortly after the end of the season, McKinley was suspended from the team after being charged with three misdemeanors, but was reinstated after entering a pretrial diversion program. In 2019, McKinley saw his first significant playing time and finished the season with 11 receptions for 268 yards and four touchdowns. McKinley utilized a fifth year of eligibility and caught 42 passes for 717 yards and three touchdowns and was named honorable mention All-

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Professional career

Detroit Lions

McKinley signed with 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the

2021 NFL Draft The 2021 NFL Draft was the 86th National Football League Draft, the annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2021 NFL season. The draft was held in Cleveland from April 29 to May 1, 2021 ...

. He was waived on August 31, 2021 and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 10, 2022. He was waived on May 12, 2022.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On August 1, 2022, he signed a one-year contract 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 ...

. On August 11, 2022, he was waived/injured. He cleared waivers and was placed on injured reserve the next day. On August 16, 2022, he was waived with an injury settlement.

References

External links

Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinley, Javon 1998 births Living people American football wide receivers Detroit Lions players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from California Sportspeople from Corona, California