Michael Jamel Neal (born June 26, 1987) 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

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 ...

who played for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

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). 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

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

. Neal was selected by the

in the second round of the

2010 NFL draft The 2010 NFL draft was the 75th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The 2010 NFL draft, draft took place over three days, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, with the first ...

. With Green Bay, he won

Super Bowl XLV Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

over 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

A native of

Merrillville, Indiana Merrillville ( , ) is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 36,444 at the 2020 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville bec ...

, he attended

Merrillville High School Merrillville High School (MHS) is a public high school in Merrillville, Indiana, United States, for students in grades nine through twelve. About Merrillville High School is the only high school in the Merrillville Community School Corporation. ...

where he was first-team all-state as senior after totaling 59 tackles, including 24 for loss and 12 sacks, with 20 quarterback hurries, six pass breakups and one blocked kick. As a junior, had 49 tackles, including 14 for loss and four sacks, with three pass breakups and one fumble recovery. Considered a three-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', he was rated as the 29th best strongside defensive end prospect of his class.

College career

Neal attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

from 2005 to 2009. After redshirting his 2005 freshman year, he appeared in nine games as a sophomore, he had nine tackles, including 1.0 for loss, and one pass breakup despite missing five games with turf toe injury. In 2007, he appeared in all 13 games, and recorded 22 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and 2.0 sacks, with one pass breakup. In 2008, he appeared in all 12 games, including 11 starts. He ranked second on team with 5.5 sacks and third with 10.0 tackles for loss, while adding 33 total tackles. As a redshirt senior, he started all 12 games, finishing third on the team in tackles for loss with 11.5 and second in sack with 5.0, while forcing one fumble.

Professional career

Neal was selected in the second round (56th overall) by the

in the

. Neal played two games during his rookie season in 2010, recording a sack, forced fumble 3 tackles. In 2011, he gained more playing time, seeing time in seven games. Neal played 11 games with 1 start, making 11 tackles with 4.5 sacks in 2012. On March 12, 2013, he re-signed with the Packers on a two-year deal. In 2013, Neal played all 16 games for the first time of his career, totalling 47 tackles, 5 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble. He played all 16 games, recording 33 tackles with 4.5 sacks in 2014. In 2015, Neal played all 16 games for the third straight year, producing 36 tackles and 4 sacks. He had an impressive performance in the NFC wild card game against 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 ...

, where he sacked

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Kirk Cousins Kirk Daniel Cousins (born August 19, 1988) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Michigan State Spartans football, Mi ...

twice while also forcing a fumble.

Statistics

The following statistics were retrieved from NFL.com.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, Mike 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Gary, Indiana People from Merrillville, Indiana Players of American football from Lake County, Indiana American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends American football linebackers Purdue Boilermakers football players Green Bay Packers players