Frederick Arnold McNeill (May 6, 1952 – November 3, 2015) was an 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

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

of 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) for 12 seasons from 1974 to 1985. 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

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. In 1973, he was named to the All-Coast/Conference First-team. McNeill was selected by the Vikings in the first round of the

1974 NFL draft The 1974 NFL draft took place at the Americana Hotel in New York City, New York, on January 29–30, 1974. Each of the 26 NFL teams were granted 17 selections for a total of 442 picks. Many experts consider the Pittsburgh Steelers to have had t ...

with the 17th overall selection. He was the first person to have been diagnosed with CTE while alive and have it confirmed following his death.

Professional career

He played on defenses that led the NFC in fewest points allowed in 1976 and the NFL in fewest total yards allowed in 1975 and fewest passing yards allowed in 1976. McNeill appeared in 2

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s with the Vikings,

Super Bowl IX Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers season, Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1974 Minnesota Vikings season, Mi ...

and

Super Bowl XI Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1976 Oakland Raiders season, Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1976 Minnesota Vikings season, Minnesota Vikings ...

. McNeill blocked a punt in

Later years

During his last campaign with the Vikings, he began his studies at the

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private law school from 1956 to 2015 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of the Juris Doctor (J. ...

, where he graduated at the top of his class. He eventually became a partner with a

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, area law firm following his NFL career. McNeill was voted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012. In his later years he was diagnosed with dementia, and was formally diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in 2009.Laskas, Jeanne Marie. "The People V. Football," ''GQ'' (magazine), March 2011.
/ref> In March 2014 he received a diagnosis of

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(Lou Gehrig's Disease). He died of ALS on November 3, 2015, at the age of 63. Following his death Doctor Bennet Omalu conducted an autopsy on McNeil and confirmed the CTE diagnosis. He is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with CTE, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.

Personal life

McNeill was married to Tia McNeill and they had two sons, Fred Jr. and Gavin. McNeill was the unnamed individual in a study published online in the journal Neurosurgery, where evidence of CTE was observed during scans while he was still alive and confirmed during an autopsy following his death. These results may help in detecting CTE in living individuals and help to improve understanding and treatment.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Fred Players of American football from Durham, North Carolina American football linebackers UCLA Bruins football players Minnesota Vikings players 1952 births 2015 deaths Deaths from motor neuron disease in California 20th-century American lawyers Players of American football with chronic traumatic encephalopathy Baldwin Park High School alumni