American Football Database
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File:MikeGarrett.jpg
Garrett at the 2003 USC awards presentation
Born (1944-04-12) April 12, 1944 (age 80)
Los Angeles, California
Position(s)Running Back
CollegeUSC
AFL Draft1966 / Round 20 / Pick 5
NFL Draft1966 / Round 2 / Pick 18
Jersey #(s)College 20
NFL 21
Career highlights
AFL All-Star1966, 1967
Awards1965 Heisman Trophy
1965 UPI Player of the Year
1965 Pop Warner Trophy
HonorsAmerican Football League Champion, 1966, 1969
World Champion,1969
Statistics
* Pro Football Reference
Teams
1966-1969
1970
1970-1973
AFL Kansas City Chiefs
NFL Kansas City Chiefs
NFL San Diego Chargers
College Football Hall of Fame, 1985 (Bio)

Michael Lockett Garrett (born April 12, 1944) is the athletic director at Langston University and a former American football player who won the 1965 Heisman Trophy as a tailback for the USC Trojans. Garrett also played professional football for eight seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers. From 1993 until 2010 he was the athletic director at USC.[1]

College career[]

A two time All-American, Garrett set numerous NCAA, Pac-8 Conference and USC records in his career by amassing a then unheard of 3,221 yards and scored 30 touchdowns. Garrett also led the nation in rushing in 1965 with 267 carries for 1,440 yards. He also caught 36 passes, returned 43 punts, returned 30 kickoffs and threw 6 passes. Two of his passes went for touchdowns. Garrett was awarded the 1965 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. He won the Heisman Trophy after the 1965 regular season.[2] In 1985 he was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Garrett signaled the dawn of the "Tailback U" era, where USC produced a stream of top tailbacks included Heisman winners O.J. Simpson ('68), Charles White ('79) and Marcus Allen ('81); as well as Heisman runners-up Anthony Davis ('74) and Ricky Bell ('76).

Mike Garrett is a member of The Pigskin Club Of Washington, D.C. National Intercollegiate All-American Football Players Honor Roll.

Professional career[]

Garrett went on to star in the American Football League playing for the Kansas City Chiefs (1966–1969) and the NFL Chiefs in 1970 before he was traded to the NFL San Diego Chargers (1970–1973). He was a two-time AFL All-Star in 1966 and 1967. Garrett played in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl I) with the Chiefs after the 1966 season. He contributed 17 rushing yards, 3 receptions for 28 yards, and 2 kickoff returns for 43 yards in their Super Bowl I loss. Garrett won a World Championship ring with the Chiefs in the last AFL-NFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl IV), when the AFL's Chiefs crushed the NFL's Vikings 23-7. Garrett was the top rusher of Super Bowl IV with 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown, also catching 2 passes for 25 yards and returning a kickoff for 18 yards. In his 8 professional football seasons, Garrett rushed for 5,481 yards, caught 238 passes for 2,010 yards, returned 14 kickoffs for 323 yards, and returned 39 punts for 235 yards. Overall, Garrett gained a total of 8,049 yards and scored 49 touchdowns (35 rushing, 13 receiving, 1 punt return).

After professional football[]

After his professional football career, Mike Garrett earned his Juris Doctor from Western State University College of Law in 1986, but never took the bar exam. He was the director of business development for the Great Western Forum, worked in the district attorney's office in San Diego and worked in various management positions. He also did color commentary for USC football telecasts.

In January 1993, Garrett returned to USC to become its sixth athletic director. He came under fire when he hired the heavily-criticized Pete Carroll as head football coach in 2001, but redeemed himself when USC returned to status as a dominant football power. In 2005, he allowed safety Darnell Bing who was at USC at the time to wear his retired number 20 for his senior season. In 2010 the USC football program was hit with severe NCAA sanctions, and USC self-imposed sanctions on its basketball program, in the wake of allegations about violations involving former USC stars Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo. These sanctions have been criticized by some NCAA football writers,[3][4][5][6][7] including ESPN’s Ted Miller, who wrote, “It's become an accepted fact among informed college football observers that the NCAA sanctions against USC were a travesty of justice, and the NCAA’s refusal to revisit that travesty are a massive act of cowardice on the part of the organization.”[8] On July 20, 2010, USC's incoming president, Max Nikias, announced major changes in the athletic department, including Garrett's replacement (effective August 3, 2010) by businessman and former USC quarterback Pat Haden.[1][9]

He is now the Athletic Director at Langston University, an NAIA program in Langston, Oklahoma.

Garrett is a Board Member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Ronnie Lott and is awarded annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.[10]

Personal[]

Garrett graduated from Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, California.

Garrett was a brother of the Alpha Kappa Chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity while a student at USC.

Garret was a resident of Aliso Village housing projects

Garret was also drafted three times by professional baseball teams. He was selected in the 41st round of the 1965 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates and was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 4th round of the 1966 MLB Draft and the 35th round of the 1970 MLB Draft.[11]

See also[]

Other American Football League players

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 USC President-Elect C. L. Max Nikias Announces New Leadership in Athletics, USC, July 20, 2010
  2. Hall, John - GARRETT RUNS OFF WITH HEISMAN TROPHY - USC Ace Praises His Team - GARRETT HEISMAN WINNER. Los Angeles Times, November 24, 1965
  3. Jay Bilas, "Anyone know what NCAA's standards are?", ESPN.com, July 1, 2010.
  4. Bryant Gumbel, "Student/Athlete Behavior", Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, September 21, 2010.
  5. Bryan Fischer, " Trojans never stood a chance after taking NCAA's best shot", CBSSports.com, May 26, 2011.
  6. Pete Fiutak, "USC paying for NCAA's inconsistency?", FoxSports.com, May 26, 2011.
  7. Stewart Mandel, "What USC's sanctions mean for Ohio State", SportsIllustrated.com, April 27, 2011.
  8. http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/31040/what-we-learned-in-the-pac-12-week-14
  9. Billy Witz, "U.S.C. President-Elect Cleans House", New York Times, July 20, 2010.
  10. http://www.lottimpacttrophy.com/
  11. "Mike Garrett minor league statistics & history". Baseball Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=garret000mik.

External links[]

Template:USC Trojans athletic director navbox

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