John Michels

John Spiegel Michels (born March 19, 1973 in La Jolla, California) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League.

High school career
Michels attended La Jolla High School, where he was a three time letterman in football, basketball, and track. He was a First Team All-American defensive tackle in football and was the Western League Champion in the discus.

Michels was named as one of San Diego's 100 all time greatest players by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

College career
Michels played college football at the University of Southern California and was a First Team All-Pac-10 and a Second Team All-American offensive tackle, after being converted from a defensive end. He helped to lead the Trojans to a victory over Northwestern University in the 1996 Rose Bowl. After his senior year at USC, Michels was selected as a starter in the 1996 Senior Bowl All-Star game.

Professional career
Michels was drafted in the first round, 27th pick overall, of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. When then-starter and fellow Trojan Ken Ruettgers went down with a knee injury, Michels took over the left tackle duties. He started 9 games in his rookie season, helping the Packers win Super Bowl XXXI. He was named the Green Bay Packers 1996 Co-Rookie of the Year (along with Tyrone Williams) and earned NFL All-Rookie honors.

In 1997, he returned as the starting left tackle, starting the first five games of the season before injuring his right knee against the Detroit Lions. He was sidelined for the rest of the season and replaced by that year's first round pick Ross Verba. After having his best training camp as a professional in 1998, he again injured his right knee and spent the year on injured reserve. Unable to recover from his knee injury, he struggled in training camp in 1999 and was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for defensive end Jon Harris. Michels only lasted a couple of weeks in Philadelphia before his knee injury ultimately ended his career.

Personal
Born John Spiegel Michels, Jr., Michels is the great-great-grandson of Joseph Spiegel, the founder of Spiegel Catalog, which was one of the most important firms in the mail-order industry, and arguably the first.

In 2008 Michels received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and is currently a resident in Diagnostic Radiology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston Texas.