Harold Lucious McLinton (July 1, 1947 – October 31, 1980) 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

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

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) from 1969 to 1978. 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 Southern Jaguars. McLinton was selected by the Redskins in the sixth round of the 1969 NFL/AFL draft. He spent his entire 10-year career with the Redskins, playing in 127 games. He was a key contributor on the 1972 NFC championship team. He finished his career with four

interception In Ball game, ball-playing Competitive sport, competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for ...

s and one

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 ...

. McLinton died on October 31, 1980, at the age of 33 from complications resulting from massive injuries sustained after being struck by a passing vehicle on Interstate 295 in southeast Washington after stopping to help a stranger change a flat tire. He was a 1966 graduate of Harper High School in Atlanta, GA and went on to attend Southern on a football scholarship. He graduated May 1969 with a bachelor's degree in Marketing & Management.

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1947 births 1980 deaths Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football linebackers Washington Redskins players Southern Jaguars football players Road incident deaths in Washington, D.C. 20th-century American sportsmen {{linebacker-1940s-stub