Andrew Ladd McConkey (born November 11, 2001) is an

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 ...

wide receiver for the Los Angeles Chargers of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played college football at Georgia, winning two

national championships A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

and the 2023 Wuerffel Trophy. He was selected by the Chargers in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Early life

McConkey attended

North Murray High School North Murray High School is a high school located in Chatsworth, Murray County, Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast Unite ...

Chatsworth, Georgia Chatsworth is a city in Murray County, Georgia, United States, specifically in the Dalton, Georgia Dalton metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 4,874 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is the cou ...

. He made the varsity team as a freshman. McConkey was an athlete as he played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, punter, and he was also a

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 position ...

. In his senior year, he led North Murray to a 9–1 record and the school's first ever region championship. McConkey finished the year with 36 total touchdowns and 3,051 total yards, being named the offensive player of the year for the region. McConkey was a three-star recruit and committed to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

on February 2, 2020. His jersey number, 15, was retired by North Murray HS in October 2023.

College career

McConkey

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 ...

and was initially a member of Georgia's scout team. In McConkey's redshirt freshman year, he caught five

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 Ameri ...

s with 28 receptions for 430 yards. His first career touchdown came against Vanderbilt. McConkey also rushed for one touchdown. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after the 34-10 win over

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, where he received 135 yards and scored one touchdown. McConkey played in all of Georgia's games making seven starts. McConkey scored two touchdowns, one receiving, and one rushing, against

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

in the 2022 season

opener Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to: * ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm * Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game * Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland * Bottle opene ...

. Against

Kent State Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in Ash ...

, McConkey recorded a career high six receptions. He scored a touchdown against

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

before tallying a season-high 94 yards in the against #1

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 th ...

. The following week against Mississippi State, McConkey would rush for a 70-yard touchdown while also adding a 17-yard receiving touchdown. He left the

SEC Championship Game The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

against

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 ...

on December 3, 2022, due to knee tendinitis. In the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship Game, McConkey recorded five receptions for 88 yards and two touchdowns in a 65–7 victory. Following the game, he announced that he would return to Georgia for the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

. The following season, McConkey missed significant time due to injuries. He finished the regular season with 29 receptions for 456 yards and two touchdowns, and he was named the recipient of the Wuerffel Trophy. On January 1, 2024, McConkey declared for the 2024 NFL draft. McConkey graduated from Georgia in 2023 with a degree in finance.

Professional career

McConkey was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers 34th overall with the pick acquired from a trade with

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 ...

. On June 19, 2024, McConkey signed his four-year rookie contract with the Chargers worth $9.9 million guaranteed, with a $4 million signing bonus.

Personal life

A middle child, McConkey grew up a fan of the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity college athletics, intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in NCAA Division I, ...

. His father, Benji McConkey, was a star quarterback in high school at Dalton High, while his brother, Hinton McConkey, played quarterback for the University of West Georgia in Division II in 2018. McConkey writes "1-20-16" on his towel before games to honor his late grandfather Vic McConkey.

References

External links

Los Angeles Chargers bio

Georgia Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConkey, Ladd Living people Georgia Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Chatsworth, Georgia 2001 births American football wide receivers Los Angeles Chargers players