Michael James Baab (born December 6, 1959) is an former American 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 center for 11 seasons in 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), primarily with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. He played

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for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Early life

Raised in Euless,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, Baab graduated from

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in 1978. Consensus All-State and All-American honors came his senior year of 1978. In 1998, Baab was named to the Pepsi's All-Time UIL High School Football Team. He was inducted into the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2016.

College career

Babb played football at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, lettering all four years from 1978 to 1981. In 1978, as a back-up guard, he helped the team to win the 1978 Sun Bowl and finish ranked #9. In his next two seasons he helped the Longhorns to play in the 1979 Sun Bowl and finish ranked #12 and the 1980 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl. He was again a back-up guard in 1979, but in 1980 he became a starter playing both guard and center. In 1981 he was voted team captain by his Longhorn teammates and he led them to a Southwest Conference Championship and an upset victory over #3 Alabama in the 1982 Cotton Bowl Classic after which the team finished the season ranked #2. For his efforts he received All-

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and third-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors that year. After his college career was over, he played in the 1982

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

in Mobile, AL. He was inducted into the Texas Hall of Honor in 2008.

Professional career

Baab was selected by the Cleveland Browns in the 5th round of the

1982 NFL draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York Sh ...

, the 115th overall pick. He played for the Browns from 1982 to 1987 and helped them to reach back to back AFC Championships in 1987 and 1988. After the 1987–88 season he was traded to the

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for a 5th round draft choice in the 1989 draft (which Cleveland traded to Green Bay as part of a multi-pick deal to get Lawyer Tillman). He played with the Patriots for two seasons. He became a free agent and was re-signed by the Browns three times playing with them from 1990 to 1992 before being released by the Browns at the start of training came in 1992. He was signed by the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

late in the 1992 season, became a free agent after the season and was not resigned. He finished his career having played in 148 games, with 138 starts, 1 carry and 2 fumbles.

Personal life

After retiring from football, Baab moved to the

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Highland Games for competition. He won the Masters World Championship in the 45-49 age class in 2005. Mike lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Lolis, his college sweetheart, and his two daughters, Micaela and Larissa. Both girls compete in Highland Athletics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baab, Mike 1959 births Living people Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas Players of American football from Austin, Texas American football centers Texas Longhorns football players Cleveland Browns players New England Patriots players Kansas City Chiefs players Sportspeople from Euless, Texas