.jpg) McCluster at the 2010 Ole Miss spring game | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Running back | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1988-08-25)August 25, 1988 (age 37) Largo, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 170 lb (77 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Largo | ||||||||||||||
| College | Ole Miss (2006–2009) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2010: 2nd round, 36th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Dexter Marquise McCluster (born August 25, 1988) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back andreturn specialist in theNational Football League (NFL) for theKansas City Chiefs,Tennessee Titans, andSan Diego Chargers. He playedcollege football for theOle Miss Rebels. McCluster was selected by the Chiefs in the second round of the2010 NFL draft. He also played for theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League (CFL) and theMassachusetts Pirates of theNational Arena League (NAL).
McCluster attendedLargo High School in Largo, Florida where he was an honor roll student and where he lettered in football, basketball and track. He was a state qualifier in the long jump and in the high jump. In football, his junior season, he rushed for 1,424 yards and 14 touchdowns. As a senior in leading the Largo Packers to the 2005 District Championship, he rushed for 2,490 yards and 39 touchdowns. Also as a senior, he was named to the First-team All-State 5A by the Florida Sports Writers Association and named All-Suncoast Player of the Year by theSt. Petersburg Times Mr.2000. McCluster was selected Most Valuable Player in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association North-South Football All- Star Classic game.
Intrack & field, McCluster was a state qualifier in the jumping events. He got personal-best leaps of 6.94 meters in thelong jump and 1.99 meters in thehigh jump. In the sprinting events, he recorded times of 11.53 seconds in the100 meters and 22.67 seconds in the200 meters.[1]
As atrue freshman at theUniversity of Mississippi in 2006, McCluster started five of the first six games before suffering an injury. He finished the season with 15 receptions for 232 receiving yards, 68 rushing yards on eight attempts and twotouchdowns. As a sophomore in 2007 he played in the final eight games of the year after missing the first four due to the injury. He finished with 326 yards on 27 receptions and 63 yards on 6 rushing attempts with two touchdowns. As a junior in 2008 he earned second-team All-SEC honors from theAssociated Press after rushing for 655 yards on 109 attempts and 44 receptions for 625 yards with seven touchdowns.
McCluster's senior season was full of highlights as he set two school records againstTennessee for rushing yards in a game with 282 and all-purpose yards in a game with 324.[2] In his final game inVaught-Hemingway Stadium, he ran for 148 yards and threw the only collegiate touchdown pass of his career in the 25-23 win over then 9th-rankedLSU. He rushed for 1,169 yards on 181 attempts (a 6.4 yards per carry average), and made 44 receptions for 520 yards with 12 total touchdowns that made him the only player in SEC history to rush for over 1,000 yards and receive for 500 yards in a single season. He finished his college career at Ole Miss with 3,685 yards from scrimmage and 23 TD's.[3]
| Season | Team | GP | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | |||
| 2006 | Ole Miss | 6 | 8 | 68 | 8.5 | 1 | 15 | 232 | 15.5 | 1 |
| 2007 | Ole Miss | 8 | 6 | 63 | 10.5 | 0 | 27 | 326 | 12.1 | 2 |
| 2008 | Ole Miss | 13 | 109 | 655 | 6.0 | 6 | 44 | 625 | 14.2 | 1 |
| 2009 | Ole Miss | 13 | 181 | 1,169 | 6.5 | 8 | 44 | 520 | 11.8 | 3 |
| Career | 40 | 304 | 1,955 | 6.4 | 15 | 130 | 1,703 | 13.1 | 7 | |
According to CBSSports.com,[4] McCluster was projected to be drafted in the second round of the2010 NFL draft.
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft8+3⁄4 in (1.75 m) | 172 lb (78 kg) | 29+1⁄4 in (0.74 m) | 8+3⁄8 in (0.21 m) | 4.58 s | 1.61 s | 2.75 s | 4.06 s | 6.73 s | 37.5 in (0.95 m) | 9 ft 10 in (3.00 m) | 20 reps | 18 |
| All values fromNFL Combine/3-cone fromPro Day.[5] | ||||||||||||
On April 23, McCluster was selected 36th overall by theKansas City Chiefs in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.[6] He signed a $5.15 million, 4-year contract with the Chiefs on July 28, 2010.[7] McCluster scored his first NFLtouchdown in his professional debut (the first game of the2010 Chiefs season) on a 94-yardpunt return on September 13, 2010, against theSan Diego Chargers. With this score, McCluster became the youngest Chiefs player to score a touchdown infranchise history (21 years and 19 days old), a record that still stands as of the end of the2023 season.[8] The record was previously held byTamarick Vanover, who scored a 99-yardkickoff return touchdown in week 1 of the1995 season vs. theSeattle Seahawks. Vanover was 21 years and 190 days old on the day of his first career touchdown, 171 days older than McCluster was when Vanover's record was broken.[8] The 94-yard score was also the longest punt return touchdown in Chiefs history until January 1, 2017, whenTyreek Hill returned a punt for 95 yards against theSan Diego Chargers.[9]
On September 26, 2010, 13 days after his debut, McCluster caught a 31-yardpass fromMatt Cassel, giving the rookie running back his first career offensive touchdown. As a result, McCluster is both the youngest and second-youngest Chiefs player to score a touchdown.[8]
On January 1, 2012, in the Chiefs'season finale against theDenver Broncos, McCluster scored his first NFL rushing touchdown on a 21-yardrun in the first quarter. This proved to be the only touchdown of the day for either team, as the game ended in a 7-3 Chiefs victory.[10]
On March 11, 2014, McCluster signed a three-year, $12 million contract to join theTennessee Titans.[11] The Titans waived McCluster on September 2, 2016.[12]
McCluster was signed to theSan Diego Chargers on September 20, 2016.[13] He was placed on the Reserve/Non Football Injury list with a fractured forearm.[14]
On July 16, 2018, McCluster signed with theToronto Argonauts of theCanadian Football League. He made his debut on September 28, 2018, and recorded 4 rushes for 27 yards, 6 catches for 46 yards, and handled return duties on special teams. McCluster played in four games for the Argos during the2018 season, and produced 117 yards on 22 carries, 111 yards on 12 catches, one punt return for six yards, and two kickoffs for 40 yards. He was released by the Argos on May 6, 2019.[15]
On May 15, 2019, McCluster signed with theMassachusetts Pirates of theNational Arena League.[16] McCluster appeared in 6 games while recording 19 receptions for 159 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns.
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