Albert Jamal McClellan (born June 4, 1986) 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 ...

inside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

from 2005 to 2009, and was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after 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 firs ...

High School & College

A native of

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 c ...

, McClellan attended

Kathleen High School Kathleen Senior High School is the second oldest of four high schools in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was originally housed north of its present location, at the site of the current Kathleen Middle School.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 ...

''. McClellan played college football for

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

. While there he was a three-time All-Conference USA selection, as well as the C-USA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2007 after suffering a torn

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

in pre-season, an injury that sidelined him for the year.

Professional career

Albert McClellan MT Stadium 2012 Practice

Baltimore Ravens

McClellan was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent after the

. McClellan played as the fourth string middle linebacker (Behind

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional American football, football player who played as a Linebacker#Middle linebacker, middle linebacker with the Baltimore Ravens for his entire 17-year career in th ...

Jameel McClain Jameel Lashawn McClain (born July 25, 1985) is a former American football linebacker who is currently the Director of Player Engagement for the Baltimore Ravens. After playing college football for Syracuse University, he was signed by the Ravens a ...

, and

Dannell Ellerbe Dannell Antonio Ellerbe (born November 29, 1985) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and has also played for the Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Ea ...

). He did not play at all in the 2010 season, but saw limited time the next year. With an injury to

Terrell Suggs Terrell Raymonn Suggs (born October 11, 1982), nicknamed "T-Sizzle", is an American former professional outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous Al ...

and the departure of Jarret Johnson to free agency in 2012, McClellan had a chance to compete for a starting outside linebacker spot with

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...

Courtney Upshaw Courtney Tremaine Upshaw (born December 13, 1989) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Alabama. High school career Upshaw at ...

, and

Sergio Kindle Sergio Valent'e Kindle (born September 20, 1987) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Ravens in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas, and was the first player ever to be a finalis ...

. Upshaw appeared to have the edge for most of training camp, but in the third preseason game, McClellan got the start. He would start 11 games during the season, and would record 49 tackles and a sack, both career highs. The Ravens did go on to win

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

after they beat the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

34-31. On March 9, 2014, McClellan signed a new two-year contract to remain with the Ravens. McClellan signed a three-year extension to remain with Baltimore on March 1, 2016. In 2017 during training camp, McClellan tore his ACL and was ruled out for the season. He was placed on injured reserve on September 1, 2017. On September 1, 2018, McClellan was released by the Ravens. He was re-signed on September 17, 2018. He was released again on October 30, 2018.

New England Patriots

On November 6, 2018, McClellan was signed by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

. In Week 14, McClellan blocked two punts on Dolphins punter

Matt Haack Matthew Scott Haack (born July 25, 1994) is an American football punter for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State. He played his first four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, w ...

. In the divisional round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Chargers, McClellan recovered a fumble off a muffed punt. The Patriots went on to win

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

13-3 against the

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

to give McClellan his second Super Bowl title.

New York Jets

On August 17, 2019, McClellan was signed by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

. He was released on September 1, 2019, but was re-signed the next day. He was placed on injured reserve on October 30, 2019, with a concussion.

References

External links

Baltimore Ravens bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Albert 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Lakeland, Florida American football defensive ends American football linebackers Marshall Thundering Herd football players Baltimore Ravens players New England Patriots players New York Jets players