Alex Mack

Alex Mack
refer to caption
Mack with the Falcons in 2016
No. 51 – Atlanta Falcons
Position: Center
Personal information
Born: (1985-11-19) November 19, 1985
Los Angeles, California
Height: 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight: 311 lb (141 kg)
Career information
High school: San Marcos
(Santa Barbara, California)
College: California
NFL Draft: 2009 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2018
Games played: 134
Games started: 134
Player stats at NFL.com

Javon Alexander "Alex" Mack[1] (born November 19, 1985) is an American football center for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of California, and was drafted by the Cleveland Browns 21st overall in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Early years

Mack was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, where he was named the Channel League's Co-Most Valuable Player on defense and earned a first-team all-league selection.[2] He was also selected to the All-CIF team. In the classroom, he compiled a 4.2 GPA and an 1180 SAT score.

Considered a two-star recruit by Rivals.com, Mack chose California over Northwestern and Stanford.[3]

In addition to football, Mack wrestled for four years with the Royals, losing only two matches his senior year and reaching the state final. He was a CIF champion as a junior and a senior.

College career

Mack at the 2008 Emerald Bowl.

Mack played for the California Golden Bears football team while attending the University of California, Berkeley.[4] He made 39 consecutive starts for the Golden Bears registering 256 key blocks/knockdowns, 32 touchdown-resulting blocks and 29 down field blocks. Mack compiled a 3.61 undergraduate GPA at the University of California, Berkeley as a legal studies major. He graduated in 2008 and played the 2008 season as a graduate student in education.[5] He won the Draddy Trophy, also dubbed the "academic Heisman", for his academic success in 2008, becoming the first Cal player and the second consecutive center to earn the trophy, following Dallas Griffin of Texas.[6] He also won the Morris Trophy in 2007 and 2008, making him the third offensive lineman and the first since Washington's Lincoln Kennedy in 1991 and 1992 to win the award twice.[7] Mack also represented Cal at the 2009 Senior Bowl.

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Projected as a first-to-second rounder by Sports Illustrated, Mack was the highest ranked center available in the 2009 NFL Draft.[8] He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns with the 21st overall selection. He was the first Golden Bears offensive lineman selected in the first round since Tarik Glenn in 1997.[9]

Cleveland Browns

Mack signed a five-year contract with the Browns on July 25. During the 2009 NFL season, Mack started on the Browns offensive line every game.[10] After a shaky start, the Browns line, anchored by Joe Thomas, paved the way to three consecutive 100+ yard games by Jerome Harrison and one game in which Harrison ran for 286 yards, which stands at third all-time in one game. At the end of the regular season, Mack was selected as center on the All-Rookie team.[11] He started all 16 games, committed only 1 penalty and allowed just 1 sack.

Mack with the Browns in 2010.

During the 2010 NFL season, Mack again started every game for the Browns.[12] He was named to the 2011 Pro Bowl roster as a second alternate to replace Nick Mangold.[13] During week 5 of the 2011 NFL season, Mack played through appendicitis during a loss to the Tennessee Titans. Mack had an appendectomy during Cleveland's bye week and came back and started against the Oakland Raiders the week after the bye week.

On December 27, 2013, Alex Mack was voted to his first Pro Bowl Selection, after having been added in 2011 to replace an injured player.

On April 9, 2014, it was announced that the Jacksonville Jaguars had offered Mack a five-year contract, worth reportedly $42 million.[14] The Browns had a maximum of five days to match Jacksonville's offer, which they did on April 11.[15][16] Mack had been previously assigned the transition tag, nullifying his free agency unless a team signed Mack to an offer sheet. During Week 6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 12, 2014, Mack was carted off the field due to a leg injury. X-rays tested positive that his leg had a broken fibula, forcing Mack out for the rest of the 2014 campaign. Prior to Mack's injury, he had never missed a single snap in his professional career. On March 2, 2016, Mack voided his contract with the Cleveland Browns thus making him a free agent.[17]

Atlanta Falcons

On March 9, 2016, Mack signed a five-year, $45 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons, including $28.5 million in guaranteed money.[18][19]

In the 2016 season, Mack and the Falcons reached Super Bowl LI , where they faced the New England Patriots. Mack was the starting center in the game for the Falcons. In the Super Bowl, the Falcons fell in a 34–28 overtime defeat.[20]

On December 19, 2017, Mack was named to his fifth Pro Bowl.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "ESPN Profile". ESPN.com.
  2. ↑ Plaschke, Bill (2017-02-03). "Not forgotten: For every Super Bowl star, there's an equally talented player who didn't make it". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  3. ↑ "Alex Mack Profile". Rivals.com.
  4. ↑ "Alex Mack College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-26. Retrieved 2009-04-27. Cal profile
  6. ↑ "Mack wins Draddy as top scholar-athlete".
  7. ↑ "California's Mack and Oregon's Reed win 29th annual Morris Trophy". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29. Retrieved 2010-12-18.
  8. ↑ "Alex Mack - 2009 Draft Tracker". Archived from the original on April 26, 2009.
  9. ↑ "California Drafted Players/Alumni". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  10. ↑ "2009 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  11. ↑ "Former Golden Bears DeSean Jackson and Alex Mack Honored by Pro Football Weekly/PFWA". CBS Interactive. 2010-01-20. Archived from the original on 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
  12. ↑ "2010 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  13. ↑ "Mack added to Pro Bowl roster". Cleveland Brownsl. 2011-01-04. Archived from the original on 13 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  14. ↑ Schefter, Adam. "Browns transition-tagged center Alex Mack signed his five-year, $42M offer sheet that includes $26M guaranteed with the Jaguars". Twitter. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Cleveland Browns Roster". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  16. ↑ Shefter, Adam. "Alex Mack to sign Jags' offer sheet". ESPN. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  17. ↑ "Browns' Mack opts out but may return to team". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  18. ↑ "Alex Mack officially signs with Atlanta Falcons on five-year deal". The Falcoholic. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  19. ↑ Spotrac.com. "Alex Mack". Spotrac.com. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  20. ↑ "Super Bowl LI - New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons - February 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 6 August 2017.
  21. ↑ "NFL announces 2018 Pro Bowl rosters". NFL.com. December 19, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017.
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