Gerald Lynn McNeil (born March 27, 1962) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for five 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) 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 ...

and

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

. He also played in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) for two seasons with the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducin ...

. McNeil 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

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

, earning first-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 in 1983. The lightest player in the NFL, McNeil was nicknamed "the Ice Cube" because he was small and difficult for tacklers to grab hold of. It was also a play off Bears defensive tackle William Perry’s nickname, “The Refrigerator”. McNeil was drafted in the 1984 NFL supplemental draft and selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

in 1987. Known for his explosive returning ability, McNeil scored four

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s in his NFL career, including an 84-yard

punt return Punt or punting may refer to: Boats * Punt (boat), a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow developed on the River Thames * Falmouth Quay Punt, a small sailing vessel hired by ships anchored in Falmouth harbour * Norfolk Punt, a type of racing ...

against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

and a 100-yard

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a Drive (American football), drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicki ...

against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Early life

McNeil was born in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, where his father was serving in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

. He attended

Killeen High School Killeen High School is a public high school located in Killeen, Texas and classified as a 6A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is one of six high schools in the Killeen Independent School District, which is located in western B ...

Killeen, Texas Killeen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Bell County. According to the 2020 census, its population was 153,095, making it the 19th-most populous city in Texas and the largest of the three principal cities of Bell County. It is ...

. McNeil played

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

, from 1980 to 1983. He earned All-American honors as a

. One of his teammates was future

quarterback

Cody Carlson Matthew Cody Carlson (born November 5, 1963) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire eight year career as a quarterback for the Houston Oilers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football fo ...

. McNeil's brother, Pat, also played football at Baylor. In his four seasons at Baylor, McNeil caught 163 passes for 2,651 yards, returned 101 punts for 886 yards, returned 31 kickoffs for 573 yards, and scored 17 touchdowns. He set school records for receptions and receiving yards which still stand among the top ten all-time to the present day.

Professional football career

USFL

McNeil was selected by the San Antonio Gunslingers in the 1984 USFL Territorial Draft. He was later traded to the

. In his two seasons with the Gamblers, he caught 91 passes for 1,518 yards, returned 69 punts for 830 yards, returned two kickoffs for 62 yards, and scored ten touchdowns. He was the USFL's leading punt returner in 1985.

NFL

McNeil was selected by the

in the second round of the

1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players The 1984 NFL supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players was a one-time draft of United States Football League (USFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) players held on June 5, 1984. While there were a few Hall of Famers and Pro Bowl players in ...

. He made his NFL debut in 1986 and played four seasons with the Browns, then played his fifth and final season with the

. In 1987 he made the pro bowl as a kick returner, returning 34 punts for 387 yards and a career best 11.4 yards per return average. In his five NFL seasons, McNeil caught 29 passes for 380 yards, returned 191 punts for 1,717 yards, returned 91 kickoffs for 1,852 yards, and scored four touchdowns. In 1986, McNeil was the only player in the NFL and the first since 1978 to return both a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same season. Although McNeil's listed weight was , McNeil stated in a March 2013 interview that "I usually came in around 140 pounds, but a lot of times I would lose 10, 12 pounds during the season very easily, so I played most of the time between 125 and 130." (Relevant question is asked at 38:50. McNeil's exact quote is at 39:59.)

References

External links

Entry at pro-football-reference.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeil, Gerald 1962 births Living people American football wide receivers American football return specialists Baylor Bears football players Cleveland Browns players American Conference Pro Bowl players Houston Oilers players Houston Gamblers players All-American college football players