Sean Christopher Mahan (born May 28, 1980) 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 wi ...

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 eccentrici ...

. He was drafted by the

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) South division. The cl ...

in the fifth round of the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. T ...

. He played college football at Notre Dame. Mahan was also a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Early years

Born in

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, Mahan attended Jenks High School of

Jenks, Oklahoma Jenks is a city in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, and a suburb of Tulsa, in the northeastern part of the state. It is situated between the Arkansas River and U.S. Route 75. Jenks is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oklahoma. The city' ...

and graduated in 1998. He led the football team to four conference titles and three regional titles; he was also a two-time All-City and All-Conference selection. As a senior, Mahan was team captain and MVP.

College career

Mahan played college football at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

and started 25 of 41 games played from the 1999 to 2002 seasons after redshirting in 1998. With the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, Mahan played as center, tackle, and guard. He majored in psychology. Mahan played under head coach Bob Davie from 1999 to 2001 and

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

in 2002.

Professional career

NFL Draft

Mahan was selected by the

in the first round (1 th overall) in the

and was one of four Notre Dame offensive linemen drafted that year.

First stint with Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2003–2006)

In his rookie year, Mahan wore

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to ...

78 and made most of his appearances on special teams. Mahan made his NFL debut at the Atlanta Falcons on September 21. In 2004, Mahan wore jersey number 79 and took over as center for the injured John Wade. The offensive line weakened in 2004; by late November, the line allowed 27 sacks, 4 more than the 2003 total of 23. Throughout the next three seasons, Mahan played in every single game for the Buccaneers and in 2005 was part of the offensive line that helped

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 ...

to the NFL Rookie of the Year.

Pittsburgh Steelers (2007)

On March 10, 2007, Mahan signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers to a five-year, $17 million deal. Mahan started all 16 regular season games and the AFC Wild Card game.

Second stint with Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2008–2009)

After a disappointing year at center for the Steelers, and the signing of free agent

Justin Hartwig Justin Hartwig (born November 21, 1978) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the sixth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas. Hart ...

, on September 2, 2008, Mahan was traded back to the

for a 7th round

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. ...

pick. He was informed of his release on September 2, 2009. He was re-signed on September 14. He was released again on October 27.

References

External links

Steelers Player Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahan, Sean 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma American football centers American football offensive guards Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Jenks, Oklahoma