Michael Patrick McCoy (born September 6, 1948) 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 with ...

player. He played 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 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 ...

, the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

, 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 division. ...

, and the

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 ...

College career

McCoy is a native of

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

and a graduate of Cathedral Preparatory School. He graduated from 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 ...

with a BA in Economics where he played football and was a Consensus All-American. He was named Lineman of the Year by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and was sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting his senior year.

NFL career

He was the first pick of the

and the second player overall (second only to Terry Bradshaw) selected in the 1970

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. McCoy was named Packers Rookie of the Year in 1970 and led the Packers in quarterback sacks in 1973 and 1976. He played eleven years in the NFL – seven with Green Bay, two with the Oakland Raiders, two with the New York Giants, and a couple of games with the Detroit Lions.

Awards

Mike received many awards including the Packers Rookie of the Year, Packers Dodge NFL Man of the Year, the Catholic College Player of the Year, Notre Dame Pro Player of the Year, and induction into the Erie, PA Pro Hall of Fame, Cathedral Prep Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Mike is a recipient of the Harvey Foster Humanitarian Award by the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association. Mike was also awarded the

Bronko Nagurski Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski (November 3, 1908 – January 7, 1990) was a Canadian-born professional American football player in the National Football League (NFL), renowned for his strength and size. Nagurski was also a successful professional w ...

Legends award which recognized the best defensive football players in the last 40 years. McCoy was inducted on June 20, 2019, into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in Troy, Michigan.

Civic activities

McCoy was appointed by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

to the Council on Sports for a Drug Free America and by former Pennsylvania Governor

Dick Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...

to the Pennsylvania Council for Physical Fitness. McCoy served as the chaplain of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

and currently serves on several community outreach boards. Mike served on the Board of Directors of YMCA Camp High Harbour, Camp Hope in Georgia, Pro Athletes Outreach and Wisconsin Special Olympics.

Mike McCoy Ministries

Mike now lectures on the importance of good decision-making, fighting drug addiction, and empowering youth. Mike is President of Mike McCoy Ministries. He speaks primarily in Catholic Schools across America, but he has spoken in many other types of schools too. He has also been a speaker for the National Catholic Educators Convention, Catholic Men’s Rallies, Bill Glass Ministries in prisons, and to parents and coaches through the Notre Dame Play Like a Champion program. He also spoke at one of the Billy Graham Crusades.

Personal life

Mike lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; his wife Kia died from cancer in 2012 and he remarried in 2014 and is the father of four children and the grandfather of fourteen. One of his children played American Football with the Grenoble's Centaurs in France. He has been a devoted born again Christian for almost his whole life.

References

External links

Mike McCoy Ministries
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCoy, Mike 1948 births Living people American football defensive tackles Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players New York Giants players Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Oakland Raiders players All-American college football players Sportspeople from Erie, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania