Kent Auburn McCloughan (born February 12, 1940) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL)'s

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

from 1965 through 1969, and for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL)'s Raiders in 1970. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Nebraska Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding t ...

. His pro career ended early because of a devastating knee injury. With Willie Brown, a member of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

, he is considered to be the originator or one of the earliest proficient exponents of

Bump and run coverage Bump and run coverage is a strategy formerly widely used by defensive backs in NFL, American professional football in which a defender lined up directly in front of a wide receiver and tried to impede him with arms, hands, or entire body and disru ...

, by which a defensive back impedes progress of the wide receiver by body contact, a style that was followed by later Oakland cornerbacks, such as

Lester Hayes Lester Craig Hayes (born January 22, 1955) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Oakland / Los Angeles Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Hayes shares the all-time club record for regular-sea ...

. The strategy appeared so successful in the eyes of NFL rule-makers that, to help the offense, the rules were changed in 1974, 1977, and 1978, with each rule change favoring the receiver over the defender (see

Penalty (American football) In gridiron football, a penalty is a sanction assessed against a team for a violation of the rules, called a foul. Officials initially signal penalties by tossing a bright yellow colored penalty flag onto the field toward or at the spot of a fo ...

.) In 1974, the most severe rule change regarding pass receivers and defenders was enacted. This rule stipulated that a player could only make contact one time beyond 3 yards of the line of scrimmage. In 1977, the rule was amended to aid the pass receivers yet again. Starting that season, a defender could only make contact with a receiver one time overall, whether it be within 3 yards of the line of scrimmage or further downfield. In 1978, the rule was amended to aid the pass receivers yet again. Starting that season, a defender could make contact with a receiver only one time, and within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. If the defender made contact with a receiver 6 yards or more from the line of scrimmage, it was now considered pass interference, even if the ball was not yet in the air. A native of

Broken Bow, Nebraska Broken Bow is a city in Custer County, Nebraska, Custer County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 3,559 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. History Broken Bow was platted in 1882. Its ...

, McCloughan established a Nebraska state record (21.4 sec) in the

220 yard dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

in 1961, which stood until Kenzo Cotton broke it in 2012.

Personal

McCloughan has three sons;

Dave Dave may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the 1993 film * ''Dave'' (TV series), a 2020 American comedy series * ...

who played defensive back in the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

from 1991 to 1994, Mark McCloughan and

Scot Scottish people or Scots (; ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Scotland. Historically, they emerged in the early Middle Ages from an amalgamation of two Celtic peoples, the Picts and Gaels, who founded the Kingdom of Scotland (or ...

, who is the former general manager of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCloughan, Kent 1940 births Living people People from Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska Players of American football from Nebraska American football cornerbacks Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Oakland Raiders players American Football League All-Star players American Football League players People from Broken Bow, Nebraska

Personal

See also

References