Kenneth Adams MacAfee II (born January 9, 1956) is a former professional

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 ...

player. He played collegiately at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and professionally for the San Francisco 49ers.

High school

MacAfee grew up in

Brockton, Massachusetts Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population is 105,643 as of the 2020 United States Census. Along with Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth, it is one of the two county seats of ...

and was a star as a high school player at

Brockton High School Brockton High School, established in 1870, is a high school located in Brockton, Massachusetts. It is a part of Brockton Public Schools. As of 2016 Brockton High School, with 4,029 students, is one of the largest high schools in the United State ...

. He emerged as a star as a sophomore, and as a junior, he led the Brockton Boxers to the first Massachusetts high school scholastic "Super Bowl"—the state championship game, which Brockton won. After the season MacAfee was selected as a First-team All-American. In his senior season, he caught 10 touchdown passes as his school went through a second straight undefeated season, scoring 360 points and allowing only 21 and again heading to the scholastic "Super Bowl." In that game, MacAfee caught four passes for 111 yards in a 41-0 win to seal a second consecutive state title. Again, MacAfee was an All-American selection. MacAfee finished his career with 23 touchdown receptions. In his four years at Brockton High School, the team was 33-3-1.Andy Nesbit
"Best Boxer in Brockton"
Boston Globe, October 15, 1999.

College

MacAfee was a three-time All-American at the

—a First-team selection in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and a consensus selection in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...

. MacAfee was elected to the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

in 1997. In 1977, he also was

Academic All-America The Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program. The program selects an honorary sports team composed of the most outstanding student-athletes of a specific season for positions in various sports—who in turn are giv ...

, won the

Walter Camp Player of the Year Award The Walter Camp Player of the Year Award is given annually to the collegiate American football player of the year, as decided by a group of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS head coaches and sports information directo ...

and was third in voting for the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

. That year, he caught 54 passes for 797 yards and six touchdowns. In his time Notre Dame had a 38-9 record and was the National Champion in 1977, with

Joe Montana Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Comeback Kid", ...

quarterbacking the Irish team. In his collegiate career, he caught 128 career passes for 1,759 yards and 15 TDs, ranking third on Notre Dame career receiving chart. He was a participant in

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

and

Japan Bowl The Japan Bowl (in Japanese, ジャパンボウル) was a post-season college football all-star game played in Japan each January from 1976 to 1993, which showcased East and West all-star teams made up of college football players from the United S ...

after his senior season.

NFL

MacAfee played with 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 ...

in 1978-79 after being drafted seventh overall in the first round of the

1978 NFL Draft The 1978 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 2–3, 1978, at the Roosevelt Hote ...

. He was a starter in his rookie season he caught 22 passes with one going for a touchdown. He was a starter in his second season, 1979 and caught 24 passes for 4 touchdowns. In 1980 MacAfee was asked to play guard for the 49ers, and not feeling suited to play that position, he left and began dental school. After the season his rights were traded to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

, but never played a regular season game with them. He was placed on injured reserve in September 1981.

Post-football

He enrolled in the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

School of Dental Medicine and obtained his degree in 1983. He set up a practice in dentistry and oral surgery and taught at the University of Pennsylvania. He now has his own practice in

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...

, where he was once a hated rival of the

Waltham High School Waltham High School is a public high school located in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is the only high school operated by Waltham Public Schools. History The current Waltham High School was constructed in 1968 and expanded in 1998 a ...

football team. Additionally, MacAfee became active in

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

Health Volunteers Overseas Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit dedicated to improving the availability and quality of health care in resource-scarce countries. through the training, mentorship, and education of local health professionals. ...

, Physicians Fighting Cancer, Homes for Homeless, AIDS Awareness Center, and Home for Wayward Children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macafee, Ken 1956 births Living people American football tight ends Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players San Francisco 49ers players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Brockton, Massachusetts Players of American football from Portland, Oregon Players of American football from Massachusetts