Seth McLaughlin (born August 27, 2001) is 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 ...

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 ...

for the

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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

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

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

and the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

Early life and high school

McLaughlin attended Buford High School in

Buford, Georgia Buford is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett and Hall County, Georgia, Hall counties in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 17,144. Most of th ...

. He held offers from schools such as Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Clemson, and Florida State. McLaughlin was rated as a three-star recruit and commit to play

for the

College career

Alabama

As a freshman in 2020, McLaughlin he played in two games. In 2021, he took over as the team starting center in the Iron Bowl and started in the 2022 SEC Championship Games as one of his two starts on the year. In 2022, McLaughlin played in 11 games while making eight starts. He entered the 2023 season on the Rimington Award watchlist, awarded to the nation's best center. McLaughlin had issues with snapping the ball all season. This culminated during the

2024 Rose Bowl The 2024 Rose Bowl (officially known as the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the 2024 Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential for sponsorship reasons) was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2024, at the Rose Bowl (stadium), Ro ...

, in which McLaughlin struggled, making three bad snaps including on the final play of the game which resulted in quarterback

Jalen Milroe Jalen Oluwaseun Isaiah Milroe (born December 13, 2002) is an American professional football quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide and won the 2024 Will ...

being tackled short ending the game for the Crimson Tide as they lost to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. After the conclusion of the 2023 season, McLaughlin entered the

NCAA transfer portal The NCAA transfer portal is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) application, database, and compliance tool created to manage and facilitate the process for student athletes seeking to transfer between member institutions. It is i ...

. In McLaughlin's career with the Crimson Tide he appeared in 35 games with 24 starts.

Ohio State

McLaughlin transferred to play for the

.As a Buckeye, McLaughlin won his second National Championship after Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 34-23.

Professional career

On May 9, 2025, Seth signed with the

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. He was the best available player not to be drafted in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

according to ESPN (ranked as the 135th best player and 2nd best center).

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bioAlabama Crimson Tide bioOhio State Buckeyes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Seth Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football centers Buford High School (Georgia) alumni Sportspeople from Buford, Georgia Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia Alabama Crimson Tide football players Ohio State Buckeyes football players Cincinnati Bengals players