Marcus McNeill (born November 16, 1983) is a former American college and professional

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 ...

player who was an

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 inj ...

in 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) for six seasons. 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 ...

for

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

, and was two-time All-American. 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 ...

selected McNeill in the second round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

, and he played his entire pro career for the Chargers. He was selected for the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

twice.

Early years

McNeill was born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He attended Cedar Grove High School in southern

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inclu ...

(a suburb of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

), and played both offensive and defensive line for the Cedar Grove Saints, earning SuperPrep All-American honors. He played in the Georgia-Florida High School All-Star Game as a senior. McNeill was also a standout track star finishing second in the state in the shot put.

College career

McNeill attended

, where he played for coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football co ...

Auburn Tigers football The Auburn Tigers football program represents Auburn University in the sport of American college football. Auburn competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Western Division o ...

team from 2002 to 2005. He started 28 total games in his four years as a lineman. He blocked for future NFL running backs

Cadillac Williams Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams (born April 21, 1982) is an American football coach and former running back in the National Football League. Williams was the interim head coach of the Auburn Tigers, the first African American to hold the posit ...

and

Ronnie Brown Ronnie G. Brown Jr. (born December 12, 1981) is a former American football running back. After graduating from Cartersville High School in Georgia, Brown attended Auburn University to play college football for the Auburn Tigers. He and Cadill ...

, and allowed only one quarterback sack as a guard. Following his 2004 junior season during which he helped lead the Auburn Tigers to an undefeated 13-0 record, he was a first-team All-SEC selection, and a first-team All-American. After his senior season in 2005, he again received first-team All-SEC honors and was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American; he was later named to ''The Sporting News'' All-Decade Team.

NFL career

2006 NFL Draft

McNeill was selected with the 50th overall pick in the 2nd round of the

. McNeill worked out at D1 Sports Training in Nashville, TN prior to the NFL Draft. Despite a stellar college career at Auburn, many teams were worried about McNeill's injury history; namely having

spinal stenosis Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen that results in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots. Symptoms may include pain, numbness, or weakness in the arms or legs. Symptoms are typically gradual in on ...

or a narrowing of the spine and the fact that he did not do much weight training at Auburn. McNeill was unable to lift during pre-draft workouts due to a fractured right hand. Despite these obstacles, McNeill still impressed with his physically imposing size and 35⅜" arms.Packers.com » News » Stories » April 21, 2006: Gil Brandt's Analysis By Position: Offensive Line

San Diego Chargers

Despite being the seventh lineman selected in the 2006 draft and playing the majority of the season with broken hands, McNeill was voted a first alternate to the

2007 Pro Bowl The 2007 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2006 season. The game took place on February 10, 2007, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The game was held on a Saturday instead of the usual Sunday after the Super B ...

and made the team after an injury to starter Willie Anderson. Commentator Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com referred to him late in the 2006 season as "one of the elite left tackles" in the NFL. A rookie starter at left tackle for the entire season, McNeill was a crucial component of the offensive line that blocked for running back

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college career with the TCU Horned Frogs, the San Diego Chargers se ...

as he established a number of single season offensive records. The majority of Tomlinson's long gains came from running behind the left side of the offensive line, behind McNeill and guard

Kris Dielman Kristopher M. Dielman (born February 3, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a guard for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for Indiana Univers ...

. McNeill was not called for a single holding penalty in the 2006 season. McNeill finished 4th in voting for the 2006 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, a remarkable finish for an offensive lineman. He was named the Offensive Rookie of the Month for September. The next season McNeill was again named to the Pro Bowl after

Jonathan Ogden Jonathan Phillip Ogden (born July 31, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle and spent his entire career with the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football ...

pulled out. In 2010 McNeill was a holdout from Chargers camp. He ended his hold out on September 25 and reported to the

. A few days after ending his hold out, McNeill and the Chargers agreed to a 6-year, $48.895 million deal. After managing to play only nine games in 2011 due to poor health, numerous sources expected the Chargers to release McNeill in the offseason. On March 13, 2012, he was released.

Retirement

On August 9, 2012, he announced his retirement from the NFL.

References

External links

*
AuburnTigers.com
player bio
San Diego Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Marcus 1983 births Living people All-American college football players American football offensive tackles Auburn Tigers football players San Diego Chargers players American Conference Pro Bowl players