James Michael Pouncey (born July 24, 1989) 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 ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

who played ten seasons 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 major ...

(NFL). He played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its Ga ...

, was a member of a

BCS National Championship The BCS National Championship Game, or BCS National Championship, was a postseason college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), first played in the 1998 college foot ...

team, and earned All-American honors. He was drafted by the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the first round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

, and played the final three seasons of his career with the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

. He is the twin brother of former NFL center

Maurkice Pouncey LaShawn Maurkice Pouncey (born July 24, 1989) is a former American football center who played 11 seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida, where he was a member of a BCS Na ...

Early years

Pouncey was born in

Ardmore, Oklahoma Ardmore is the county seat of Carter County, Oklahoma, United States. According to the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,283, with an estimated population of 24,698 in 2019. The Ardmore micropolitan statistical area had an estimate ...

.National Football League, Current Players
Maurkice Pouncey
Retrieved March 18, 2015. He attended Lakeland High School in

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal ci ...

, where he was a standout lineman for the Lakeland Dreadnaughts high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2010 Roster
Mike Pouncey
. Retrieved April 28, 2011. As a senior in 2006, he helped lead Lakeland High to its third consecutive Florida Class 5A state championship and second straight ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. Considered a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Pouncey was listed as the No. 16 offensive guard in the nation in 2007. He chose Florida over offers from

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

, Clemson,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at the ...

, and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

College career

Pouncey accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons from ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

team from

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The 2010 eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull, Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 89, 95, 97, 98, 103, 125, 185 (2011). Retrieved August 14, 2011. As a freshman in 2007, he started the season as an offensive lineman but had to move to the

defensive line 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, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

as replacement when several defensive starters were injured. Pouncey started four of 13 games as a freshman, recording eight

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking up ...

and an

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

. As a sophomore in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he moved back to the offensive line and started all 14 of the Gators' games at right guard, including the Gators' 24–14 victory over the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the " Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Ru ...

in the

2009 BCS National Championship Game The 2009 FedEx BCS National Championship Game was an American football game played at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, on January 8, 2009. It was the national championship game for the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and fea ...

. After his junior season in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, Pouncey was named an Associated Press honorable mention All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection and a ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinoi ...

'' first-team All-American. As a senior team captain in 2010, he moved from guard to center for the Gators, replacing his twin brother

at center, after Maurkice entered the

2010 NFL Draft The 2010 NFL Draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, with the first ...

following his junior year.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

Pouncey graded out as the top center and guard prospects in the

. He was selected by the

in the first round with the 15th pick overall, and started all 16 regular season games of his rookie season.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Mike Pouncey
Retrieved April 18, 2012. In February 2014, the NFL released the "Wells Report" finding that Pouncey, along with Dolphins teammates

Richie Incognito Richard Dominik Incognito Jr. (born July 5, 1983) is a former American football guard. He played college football at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played f ...

and John Jerry, had bullied and harassed lineman Jonathan Martin, another unnamed player, and an assistant trainer. The harassment of the assistant trainer, in which Pouncey took part, included racial insults. On April 29, 2014, the Dolphins exercised the fifth year option on his rookie contract. Pouncey underwent hip surgery to repair a torn labrum with an expected recovery time of three months on June 23. He would go on to play the entire 2014 season at Guard and was named to his second Pro Bowl, becoming the third Dolphin in team history to earn Pro Bowl honors at two different positions (

Cameron Wake Derek Cameron Wake (born January 30, 1982) is a former American football defensive end and outside linebacker. He played college football for Penn State University, and was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Wake ...

Randy Starks Randolph Starks, Jr. (born December 14, 1983) is a former American football defensive end who played twelve seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played ...

). On April 10, 2015, Pouncey signed a 5-year contract extension with the Dolphins worth $52.15 million with $22 million guaranteed. Pouncey only played in five games in 2016 after dealing with a hip injury before being placed on injured reserve on December 13, 2016. The Dolphins released Pouncey on March 15, 2018, after he asked the team to release him.

Los Angeles Chargers

On March 19, 2018, Pouncey signed a two-year, $15 million contract including $10 million fully guaranteed with the

. He started all 16 games at center for the Chargers in 2018, on his way to his fourth Pro Bowl. On September 3, 2019, Pouncey signed a one-year extension worth $9 million. He was placed on injured reserve on October 9, 2019 with a neck injury. On September 17, 2020, Pouncey was placed on injured reserve after undergoing season-ending hip surgery. On February 12, 2021, Pouncey announced his retirement, alongside his brother, after a ten-season career.

Personal life

Pouncey's

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother

was selected 18th overall by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

in the

. He is one minute older than Maurkice.Dave Curtis,
Identical twins Mike and Maurkice Pouncey will make formidable front for UF foes
" TCPALM (April 11, 2008). Retrieved August 18, 2011. Pouncey has two children: a daughter, Janiyah (born 2008), and a son, Kayden (born 2013).

References

External links

*
Florida Gators bio

Miami Dolphins profile

Los Angeles Chargers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pouncey, Mike 1989 births Living people American twins Twin sportspeople People from Ardmore, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida Players of American football from Oklahoma African-American players of American football American football centers American football offensive guards Lakeland High School (Lakeland, Florida) alumni Florida Gators football players All-American college football players Miami Dolphins players Los Angeles Chargers players Unconferenced Pro Bowl players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people American Conference Pro Bowl players Ed Block Courage Award recipients