Dexter Marquise McCluster (born August 25, 1988) 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 wit ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

. He played college football for the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi ( byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

. He was drafted 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

in the second round of 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 fir ...

and also spent time with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their h ...

and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

High school career

McCluster attended Largo High School in Largo, Florida where he was an honor roll student and where he lettered in football, basketball and track. He was a state qualifier in the long jump and in the high jump. In football, his junior season, he rushed for 1,424 yards and 14 touchdowns. As a senior in leading the Largo Packers to the 2005 District Championship, he rushed for 2,490 yards and 39 touchdowns. Also as a senior, he was named to the First-team All-State 5A by the Florida Sports Writers Association and named All-Suncoast Player of the Year by the

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

Mr.2000. McCluster was selected Most Valuable Player in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association North-South Football All- Star Classic game. In

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

, McCluster was a state qualifier in the jumping events. He got personal-best leaps of 6.94 meters in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and 1.99 meters in the high jump. In the sprinting events, he recorded times of 11.53 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and 22.67 seconds in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a 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 the race. A slightl ...

College career

As a

true freshman 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 ...

at the University of Mississippi in 2006, McCluster started five of the first six games before suffering an injury. He finished the season with 15 receptions for 232 receiving yards, 68 rushing yards on eight attempts and two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

s. As a sophomore in 2007 he played in the final eight games of the year after missing the first four due to the injury. He finished with 326 yards on 27 receptions and 63 yards on 6 rushing attempts with two touchdowns. As a junior in 2008 he earned second-team All-SEC honors from the ''

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

'' after rushing for 655 yards on 109 attempts and 44 receptions for 625 yards with seven touchdowns. McCluster's senior season was full of highlights as he set two school records against

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

for rushing yards in a game with 282 and all-purpose yards in a game with 324. In his final game in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, he ran for 148 yards and threw the only collegiate touchdown pass of his career in the 25-23 win over then 9th-ranked

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. He rushed for 1,169 yards on 181 attempts (a 6.4 yards per carry average), and made 44 receptions for 520 yards with 12 total touchdowns that made him the only player in SEC history to rush for over 1,000 yards and receive for 500 yards in a single season. He finished his college career at Ole Miss with 3,685 yards from scrimmage and 23 TD's.

College statistics

Professional career

According to CBSSports.com, McCluster was projected to be drafted in the second round of the

. On April 23, McCluster was drafted 36th overall by the Kansas City Chiefs in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Paul Posluszny, Dexter McCluster, Robert Quinn 2014 Pro Bowl

Paul Posluszny, Dexter McCluster, Robert Quinn 2014 Pro Bowl

Kansas City Chiefs

McCluster signed a $5.15 million, 4-year contract with the Chiefs on July 28, 2010. McCluster scored his first NFL touchdown in his professional debut on a 94-yard punt return on September 13, 2010 against the

. The 94-yard return was the longest punt return in Chiefs history. McCluster scored his first rushing NFL touchdown on a run in the season finale of the Chiefs 2011 season.

Tennessee Titans

On March 11, 2014, McCluster signed a three-year, $12 million contract to join the

. The Titans waived McCluster on September 2, 2016.

San Diego Chargers

McCluster was signed to the

on September 20, 2016. He was placed on the Reserve/Non Football Injury list with a fractured forearm.

Toronto Argonauts

On July 16, 2018, McCluster signed with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

. He made his debut on September 28, 2018 and recorded 4 rushes for 27 yards, 6 catches for 46 yards, and handled return duties on special teams. McCluster played in four games for the Argos during the 2018 season, and produced 117 yards on 22 carries, 111 yards on 12 catches, he also returned one punt return for six yards, and two kickoffs for 40 yards. He was released by the Argos on May 6, 2019.

Massachusetts Pirates

On May 15, 2019, McCluster signed with the

Massachusetts Pirates The Massachusetts Pirates are a professional indoor football team of the Indoor Football League based in Worcester, Massachusetts, with home games at the DCU Center. The Pirates began play in the 2018 season as a member of the National Arena Lea ...

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

. McCluster appeared in 6 games while recording 19 receptions for 159 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.

References

External links

Official WebsiteTennessee Titans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCluster, Dexter 1988 births Living people African-American players of American football American football return specialists American football running backs American football wide receivers Kansas City Chiefs players Los Angeles Chargers players Ole Miss Rebels football players People from Largo, Florida Players of American football from Florida San Diego Chargers players Sportspeople from Pinellas County, Florida Tennessee Titans players Unconferenced Pro Bowl players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people