Sean Christopher Mahan (born May 28, 1980) 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

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

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). 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

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

and was selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

in the fifth round of the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. Mahan was also a member of 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

Born in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

, Mahan attended Jenks High School of

Jenks, Oklahoma Jenks is a city in Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States, and a suburb of Tulsa, in the northeastern part of the state. It is situated between the Arkansas River and U.S. Route 75. Jenks is one of the fastest-growing cities in Oklahoma. The city ...

and graduated in 1998. He led the football team to four conference titles and three regional titles; he was also a two-time All-City and All-Conference selection. As a senior, Mahan was team captain and MVP.

College career

Mahan played

at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and started 25 of 41 games played from the 1999 to 2002 seasons after redshirting in 1998. With the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football The Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team is a college football team representing the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana (CDP), Notre Dame, Indiana, north of the city of South Bend, Indiana. The team plays its home games at the ca ...

team, Mahan played as center, tackle, and guard. He majored in psychology. Mahan played under head coach Bob Davie from 1999 to 2001 and

Tyrone Willingham Lionel Tyrone Willingham (born December 30, 1953) is a former American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Stanford University (1995–2001), the University of Notre Dame (2002–2004), and the University of Washington (2005–2 ...

in 2002.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (first stint)

Mahan was selected by the

in the first round (168th overall) in the

and was one of four Notre Dame offensive linemen drafted that year. In his rookie year, Mahan wore

jersey number In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to id ...

78 and made most of his appearances on special teams. Mahan made his NFL debut at the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

on September 21. In 2004, Mahan wore jersey number 79 and took over as center for the injured John Wade. The offensive line weakened in 2004; by late November, the line allowed 27 sacks, 4 more than the 2003 total of 23. Throughout the next three seasons, Mahan played in every single game for the Buccaneers and in 2005 was part of the offensive line that helped

Cadillac Williams Carnell Lamar "Cadillac" Williams (born April 21, 1982) is an American professional football coach and former running back who most recently served as the running backs coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He ...

to the NFL Rookie of the Year.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On March 10, 2007, Mahan signed with the

to a five-year, $17 million deal. Mahan started all 16 regular season games and the AFC Wild Card game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (second stint)

After a disappointing year at center for the Steelers, and the signing of free agent Justin Hartwig, on September 2, 2008, Mahan was traded back to the Buccaneers for a 7th round

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

pick. He was informed of his release on September 2, 2009. He was re-signed on September 14. He was released again on October 27.

References

External links

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahan, Sean 1980 births Living people Players of American football from Tulsa, Oklahoma American football centers American football offensive guards Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Pittsburgh Steelers players People from Jenks, Oklahoma Sportspeople from Tulsa County, Oklahoma