Michael Joe Basinger (born December 11, 1951) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the Gavilan Rams and

UC Riverside Highlanders The UC Riverside Highlanders represent the University of California, Riverside (UCR) in Riverside, California in 15 men's and women's intercollegiate athletics. The Highlanders compete in NCAA Division I; they are members of the Big West Confere ...

. After college, he was a member of the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

and the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He only appeared in one NFL game, with the Packers.

Early life

Basinger was born on December 11, 1951, in

Merced, California Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on Apri ...

. He attended Los Banos High School where he played

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

. He played as a

in football and helped Los Banos to a co-share of the Mountain Valley Conference title as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

in 1969, being selected first-team all-league. In baseball, he had a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .425 in his career and scored 16

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 67

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

. Basinger initially accepted a football

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

to play for Abilene Christian College, but ended up not attending there and instead enrolled at Gavilan College in 1970.

College career

At Gavilan, Basinger played both football and baseball. He was used as a defensive lineman and

placekicker In gridiron football, the placekicker (PK), or simply kicker (K), is the player responsible for attempts at scoring Field goal (football), field goals and extra points. In most cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist ...

in football, while he played as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

in baseball. He was selected All- Coast Conference as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

with the baseball team. In his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

season on the football team, he was named Gavilan's most valuable defensive lineman and was selected All-Coast Conference. He was also a

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. After two years at Gavilan, Basinger transferred to the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP) in 1972. Shortly after deciding on UTEP, he decided that he did not like the school and transferred to the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, where he joined Wayne Howard, his football coach from Gavilan. He was used at each defensive line position and played two years under Howard at UC Riverside as a starter, being named the team's most valuable lineman each year, despite being limited by a shoulder injury suffered in a car crash in 1972. He said that prior to his

season, after performing poorly in front of scouts and due to financial issues, he considered quitting football. However, after talking with the team's defensive line coach, Sam Moore, he decided to stay playing football, and he was named All-

California Collegiate Athletic Association The California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) is a List of NCAA conferences, college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the NCAA Division II, Division II level. All of its current m ...

(CCAA) for the 1973 season. He helped UC Riverside compile a record of 8–2 in the 1973 season and was invited to the

East–West Shrine Game East West (or East and West) may refer to: *East–West dichotomy, the contrast between Eastern and Western society or culture Arts and entertainment Books, journals and magazines *'' East, West'', an anthology of short stories written by Salm ...

after the season. Coming from a small school, Basinger said that "I went bananas" upon learning that he was selected for the game. He was the first Shrine Game participant in UC Riverside history, as well as only the second from the CCAA all-time.

Professional career and later life

After going unselected in the

1974 NFL draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the Pittsburgh Steelers to have had t ...

, Basinger signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. He impressed coach

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...

and initially made the final roster for the 1974 season. He made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the

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

, but was released three days later, stating that he was "puzzled" at the team's decision. After being released by the Packers, he signed with the Manitowoc County Chiefs of the Central States Football League, helping them reach the league championship. In the off-season, Basinger worked as a grocery store manager in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

. He signed with the

of the NFL in early 1975. However, on July 20, 1975, he announced his retirement from professional football. He finished his NFL career having appeared in one game. After football, Basinger became a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer and songwriter. He had been in a rock band in high school and majored in music in college. He began signing country music in 1978 and began writing songs in 1983. By 1986, he had written 54 songs and helped write "The Lady of the World", which placed on the top 100 country songs chart. That year, he said he was writing and playing " honky tonks" in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, earning $30 per night, while also working in construction.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basinger, Michael Green Bay Packers players UC Riverside Highlanders football players University of California, Riverside alumni 1951 births Living people American football defensive ends Players of American football from Merced 20th-century American sportsmen