Micheal Curtis Spurlock (born January 31, 1983) 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 ...

coach and former wide receiver who is the special teams quality control coach for 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 club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

of 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). He was signed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

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 ...

in 2006. 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 Ole Miss. Spurlock has also played for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

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 ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

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 divisi ...

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 ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, and

Florida Tuskers Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...

Early years

At Gentry High School in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

, he passed for Class 5A state records of 3,348 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2000, also rushed for another 1,161 yards and scored 10 touchdowns, giving him 4,509 total yards and 45 touchdowns during senior campaign. He also currently holds the Mississippi High School State record for passing yards in a single game (581) and touchdowns in a single game (9). He earned three

letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, four in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

and three in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, playing as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

in baseball, was three-time selection as team's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

and Best Defensive Player. He was also the starting guard in basketball.

College career

While at Ole Miss, he played in all 11 games, starting eight, seven at

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, and the season finale at

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

, as a senior in 2005. As quarterback, he passed for 1,709 yards on 142-of-267 completions with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions and rushed for two touchdowns. He appeared in seven-of-11 games in 2004 as a junior, connected on 30-of-70 passes for 341 yards, and rushed 27 times for 59 yards. He only played in two of 13 games as a sophomore in 2003 as he was behind

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

on the depth chart and he completed seven-of-eight passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. His only action of 2002 as a

redshirt freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

came against the

Arkansas State Indians The Arkansas State Red Wolves are the athletic teams of Arkansas State University. They are a member of the Sun Belt Conference in all sports except women's bowling, a sport not sponsored by that league, competing at the National Collegiate Athle ...

. He redshirted in 2001.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Spurlock signed with the Cardinals as an

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Spurlock spent most of the year on the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

but was promoted to the roster on December 29, 2006 and in his first NFL game against the

tied for the team lead with four receptions.

First stint with Buccaneers

On December 16, 2007, Spurlock became the first player in

franchise history to return a kickoff for a touchdown in a regular season game, taking a kick back 90 yards for a score in a game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. At the time, Tampa Bay had not returned a kickoff for a touchdown in their entire 32-year history when this was accomplished; it was the 1,865th kickoff the Buccaneers had ever received. He was cut by the team on August 31, 2008 but was quickly re-signed to their practice squad.

San Francisco 49ers

On January 21, 2009, Spurlock was signed to a future contract by the

. After the 2009 preseason, Spurlock was officially signed to the team, due to first round draft pick

Michael Crabtree Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Texas Tech, where he was a two-time unanimous All-Am ...

holding out. He was waived by the team on November 3.

Second stint with Buccaneers

Spurlock re-signed with the Buccaneers on December 22, 2009. In his first game back with the Bucs, he returned a punt for a touchdown, leading to a 20-17 victory for Tampa Bay over the 13-1 New Orleans Saints. On November 7, 2010, against the Atlanta Falcons, Spurlock returned a squib kick for a touchdown. It was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in his career.

San Diego Chargers

The

signed Spurlock on April 4, 2012. Spurlock returned a 99-yard kick off return for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. The

released Spurlock on October 3, 2012.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The

signed Spurlock on October 5, 2012.

Second stint with Chargers

Spurlock was claimed off waivers on November 28, 2012 after the Jaguars released him to make room for Jason Babin.

Detroit Lions

Spurlock signed with the

on June 4, 2013.

Dallas Cowboys

Spurlock signed with the

on December 18, 2013. While playing against the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in his first game with the Cowboys, Spurlock returned a punt for 62 yards to set up the team's first touchdown. In order to make room for quarterback

Jon Kitna Jon Kelly Kitna (born September 21, 1972) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League for the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions, and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Central Washington ...

, the Cowboys released Spurlock on December 25, 2013. He was re-signed by the Lions later that day.

Chicago Bears

Spurlock signed with the

on June 3, 2014. He was waived from the

on September 9, 2014.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spurlock, Micheal 1983 births Living people People from Indianola, Mississippi Players of American football from Mississippi American football quarterbacks American football running backs American football wide receivers American football return specialists Ole Miss Rebels football players Arizona Cardinals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players San Francisco 49ers players Florida Tuskers players San Diego Chargers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Detroit Lions players Dallas Cowboys players Chicago Bears players Green Bay Packers coaches