October 14, 2023
By Fred Liggett
sports.lstribune08@Gmail.com
While playing football at Mizzou from 2006-09 Jeremy Maclin was called a lot of different names and now everyone can add Hall of Famer to that long list. Maclin was back at Mizzou on Saturday, Oct. 7 to be honored by the National Football Foundation with an on field tribute. Maclin will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame at a ceremony set for Saturday, Dec. 5.
Maclin becomes the latest and the eighth Mizzou player to enter the College Football Hall of Fame. The NFF visits each inductee’s campus throughout the football season for what is called “on Campus Salutes.” During a first half time out Maclin was joined on the field with an NFF representative, Mizzou Athletic Director Desireé Reed-François, Maclin’s wife Adia and their two daughters Jett and Krew. Before the on field salute ended Maclin saw his name had been added to the stadium’s Wall of Honor.
The success Maclin enjoyed at Mizzou is easy to see as his college head coach Gary Pinkel was inducted into the hall of fame just last year. Pinkel says of Maclin, “What a great player. It was so well deserving.” When Maclin left Mizzou for the NFL he was the only Missouri player to be named a two-time First Team All-American. In 2007 Maclin’s 198.3 all-purpose yards per game set an NCAA record as a freshman. Maclin was named Offensive MVP of the Alamo Bowl after his junior season. As a team, Mizzou won the Big 12 North Division title in both of Maclin’s playing years.
After his days on the Mizzou Campus Maclin became a first round NFL pick as he was taken 19th overall in 2009 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Eagles head coach that year was Andy Reid currently head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. Maclin made the NFL Pro Bowl in 2014 to add another title to his playing career resume. The very next year Maclin would play pro football in his native state as he spent two seasons with the Chiefs in 2015 and 2016. Maclin finished his nine year pro career with a season spent in Baltimore.
Today Maclin is the head football coach at his alma mater Kirkwood High School. Maclin, a 2006 Kirkwood graduate took the top football job in 2019. Maclin founded the J-Mac Gives Back Foundation which supports underprivileged children. Coach, friend, father and now Hall of Famer are just a few ways to describe this talented Missouri native in 2023.
