Michael Deanailo Westbrook (born July 7, 1972) is a former American college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in 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 ma ...

(NFL) and is also a former

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. Westbrook played college football for the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

, and was recognized as an All-American. He was drafted in the first round of the

1995 NFL Draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount T ...

, and played professionally 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

of the NFL. After retiring from football, he later competed as a mixed martial arts fighter in the

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the W ...

division.

Early years

Westbrook was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. He attended Chadsey High School in Detroit, and played for the Chadsey Explorers

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partl ...

team.

College football

Westbrook attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he played for the Colorado Buffaloes football team from 1991 to 1994. As a senior in 1994, he was the receiver in the play known as " The Miracle at Michigan," a

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

from Buffaloes quarterback

Kordell Stewart Kordell Stewart (born October 16, 1972) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nicknamed "Slash", he played college football at Colorado ...

to beat the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisio ...

in the final seconds of the game. At the conclusion of the season, he was recognized as a consensus first-team All-American, and was the recipient of the

Paul Warfield Trophy The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More th ...

as the best college wide receiver in the nation.

Professional football

The

selected Westbrook in the first round (fourth overall pick) of the

, and played for seven seasons in Washington, before playing the 2002 season with the

. In August 1997, the Redskins fined Westbrook $50,000 for punching a teammate, running back Stephen Davis, an incident caught by TV news cameras. While injuries hampered Westbrook for much of his NFL career, he played all 16 games in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

en route to achieving career highs in receptions (65), yards (1,191), and touchdowns (nine). Westbrook finished his career with 285 receptions for 4,374 yards and 26 touchdowns. He also rushed 22 times for 160 yards and one touchdown.

NFL statistics

Martial arts

Westbrook practiced martial arts during his football playing career, and entered

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting ( ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

after retirement from the NFL in 2002. He has won national and Pan-American events as a brown belt. In 2008, he won the

International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation The International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) is a for-profit company that hosts several of the biggest Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) tournaments in the world, including the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship, World No-Gi Championship The W ...

("IBJJF") World Championship at purple belt. Westbrook said of jiu-jitsu, "This is a lot easier and a lot more fun han football I don't have to worry about coaches and it's not nearly as dangerous. I don't have to worry about pleasing the public and the announcers. Or getting eggs thrown at my door because I dropped a ball. I don't have to worry about any of that." Having previously trained with the MASH FIGHT TEAM in Michigan with Former "King Of The Cage" Light Heavyweight Champion James Lee, Westbook now trains at Arizona Combat Sports in Tempe,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

. As a

, Westbrook competes in the heavyweight (206-265 lbs.) division. He fought once in 2005 and defeated fellow NFL veteran

Jarrod Bunch Jarrod Ray Bunch (born August 9, 1968) is a former American football player and actor, as well as the head coach of the Beverly Hills High School football team. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1986 to 1990. He wa ...

in the

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

of a

King of the Cage King of the Cage (KOTC) is a mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion based in Southern California, United States. History KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features mostly amateur as well as up and coming MMA stars and former mainstr ...

event in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

. After the Bunch fight, Westbrook was inactive for four years; and his return to professional MMA was less successful than his debut. In February, 2009, Travis Browne defeated Westbrook in

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cens ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, by

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in the third round. In July 2009, Westbrook squared off against Nick Gaston in the main event of a King of the Cage card in Lac du Flambeau,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. One minute into the fight, Gaston struck Westbrook in the groin with a knee strike, and Westbrook could not continue. The fight was ruled a no contest. Westbrook also fought on season two, episode ten, of MTV's '' Bully Beatdown''. On that episode, it was stated that Westbrook owns a black belt in

taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. ...

and has reached brown-belt status in

under

Gustavo Dantas Gustavo Dantas (born 23 December 1974 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), is a fifth degree Black Belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu from André Pederneiras. With nearly 20 years of coaching experience and being a world class competitor, Gustavo is a public speak ...

. Westbrook was promoted to a Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in 2010.

Mixed martial arts record

, - , L , align=center, 1–2 , Nick Gaston , Loss , KOTC: Connection , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:04 , Lac de Flambeau, Wisconsin, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 1–1 ,