Kareem Michael McKenzie (born May 24, 1979) 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 wi ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict in ...

. As a member of the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

, he won

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

and

Super Bowl XLVI Super Bowl XLVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

, twice against the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

High school and college career

McKenzie played only two years of high school football at

Willingboro High School Willingboro High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Willingboro Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, operating as the lone secondary school of t ...

Willingboro Township, New Jersey Willingboro Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the state's South Jersey region. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,889, an increase of ...

.Kareem McKenzieplayer profile

National Football League Players Association The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director De ...

. Accessed July 23, 2007. "Despite playing only 2 years of football at Willingboro High School in New Jersey, he earned USA Today and Schutt All-America honors…Was rated the nation's best offensive lineman by SuperPrep" McKenzie 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 in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

Professional career

New York Jets (2001–2004)

McKenzie was drafted in the third round (79th overall) of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

, and established himself as a premier run blocker over his first four seasons as a professional. McKenzie anchored the right tackle position and helped

Curtis Martin Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patrio ...

achieve three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 2002 to 2004, including an NFL best 1,697 yards in 2004.

New York Giants (2005–2012)

Before the 2005 season, McKenzie joined the

as 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 i ...

. He suffered a hamstring injury in week 13 of the 2005 season against Giants rival, the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

. McKenzie made an immediate impact as right tackle for the Giants in the 2005 season, paving the way for

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virgi ...

in rushing for a franchise-record of 1,860 yards. McKenzie was an integral part of the Giants' success in 2007 and won his first Super Bowl ring in

. He earned another ring with the Giants in

. Following the season, he became a free agent and the Giants announced he would not be re-signed. After his time with the Giants, he did not sign with another team.

References

External links

*Kareem McKenzie bio,
New York Giants 2011 Information Guide
', pp. 119–120.

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pen ...

, February 1, 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Kareem 1979 births Living people African-American players of American football American football offensive tackles Penn State Nittany Lions football players New York Giants players New York Jets players People from Willingboro Township, New Jersey Players of American football from Trenton, New Jersey Willingboro High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople