Randy McMichael
Encyclopedia
Miami Dolphins
McMichael was selected in the fourth round (114th overall) in the 2002 NFL Draft2002 NFL Draft
The 2002 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936. The draft took place April 20–21, 2002 at the theater at...
by the Miami Dolphins. The pick used by Dolphins to select him was originally acquired from the New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
in the deal that sent running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Ricky Williams
Ricky Williams
Errick Lynne "Ricky" Williams, Jr. is an American football running back for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints fifth overall in the 1999 NFL Draft...
to the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
McMichael made his NFL debut in a starting role against the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
on September 8, when he tied for team-lead with four receptions and led the team with 73 yards. He also scored his first NFL touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
in the game, hauling in a Jay Fiedler
Jay Fiedler
Jay Brian Fiedler is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League.-Early life and high school years:Fiedler was born to a Jewish family on Long Island in Oceanside, New York...
pass from 16 yards out in the second quarter.
He started all 16 games in his rookie season, catching 39 passes for 485 yards and four touchdowns. His four receiving scores led the team, while his reception and yardage figures both were third. He became the first Dolphins rookie tight end ever to start every regular season contest. No Dolphins tight end had produced as many stats as McMichael had since Troy Drayton
Troy Drayton
Troy Anthony Drayton is a former professional American football tight end from 1993 to 2001. He played in 9 seasons in the National Football League, mainly for the St. Louis Rams and the Miami Dolphins. He was All-America at Pennsylvania State University where he played from 1989 to 1992...
in 1997 (39 receptions, 558 yards, 4 touchdowns). McMichael's four touchdown catches were the third-highest figure by a Dolphins rookie at any position, and the most by a tight end, surpassing Ferrell Edmunds
Ferrell Edmunds
Ferrell Edmunds, Jr. is a former professional American football player. A 6'6", 248-lb. tight end from the University of Maryland, Edmunds was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 1988 NFL Draft...
, who had three in 1988. McMichael had a reception in 15 of 16 games. Of his 39 catches, five went for 25 yards or longer - third-most on the team, trailing only James McKnight
James McKnight
James Edward McKnight is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He played for the Seattle Seahawks , the Dallas Cowboys , Miami Dolphins , and the New York Giants . He spent the 1999 season on injured reserve. McKnight played college football at Liberty...
(9) and Chris Chambers
Chris Chambers
Christopher J. "Chris" Chambers is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft...
(7).
Although he was the eighth tight end taken in the 2002 NFL Draft, McMichael’s receiving totals ranked second among all NFL rookie tight ends in 2002, trailing only the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
’ Jeremy Shockey
Jeremy Shockey
Jeremy Charles Shockey is an American football tight end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League. He was drafted by the New York Giants 14th overall in the 2002 NFL Draft...
- the 14th overall pick in the draft. McMichael’s touchdown total was also the most of any rookie tight end in the league in 2002.
McMichael emerged as one of the top receiving tight ends in the league in his second NFL season, starting all 16 games and finishing with 49 receptions for 598 yards and two touchdowns. He added another touchdown on a fumble recovery. McMichael ranked third on the team in receptions and second in receiving yards. He led or shared the team-lead in receiving four times during the course of the season, while topping the team in receiving yards on five occasions. Of his 49 receptions, five went for 25 yards or longer (second-most on the team) trailing only Chris Chambers (8). He had a reception in all but one game. He ranked fourth among AFC
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards.
McMichael had his most productive game of the season and one of the top receiving days ever by a Dolphins tight end against the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
on October 19, when he caught eight passes for 102 yards. His eight receptions tied a team record for a tight end at the time, achieved three times previously, most recently by Keith Jackson who did it in a Divisional Playoff game on January 8, 1995 at the San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
For the third straight year, McMichael started all 16 games. He was one of only two Dolphins offensive players to open every game in 2004, with offensive lineman Seth McKinney
Seth McKinney
Seth Alan McKinney is an American football center he is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Texas A&M.McKinney has also played for the Cleveland Browns...
being the other. McMichael put together the most prolific receiving season of any tight end in Dolphins history, leading the team with 73 receptions while his 791 receiving yards ranked second, trailing only Chris Chambers, who registered 898 yards. He also scored four touchdowns on the season and had a two-point conversion to his credit. He had five receptions for 25 yards or longer on the season, tied with Marty Booker
Marty Booker
Marty Montez Booker is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the third round of the 1999 NFL Draft...
for second on the squad, trailing only Chambers, who had six. Overall, McMichael led the Dolphins in receptions eight times and in receiving yards on seven occasions over the course of the season. His reception total ranked 13th in the AFC. He tied for fourth in the AFC with 24 third-down receptions. His 73 receptions and 791 receiving yards both represent single-season standards for a Dolphins tight end, as he surpassed the previous marks set by Keith Jackson in 1994. For his performance during the season, McMichael was a first-alternate for the AFC Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
squad.
In 2005, McMichael started 16 games for the fourth straight year to open his career. He ended 2005 having opened 64 consecutive contests. On the year, he caught 60 passes for 582 yards and five touchdowns. His reception total and five receiving scores ranked second on the squad, while his yardage figure was third. All three figures placed him fourth among AFC tight ends. His reception figure was the second-highest single-season total by a Dolphins tight end, while his five receiving scores tied for fourth and marked a personal single-season best. McMichael led the team in receptions on six occasions and in receiving yardage once. He had a touchdown reception in each of the first four games of the season -the only player in the NFL to achieve this feat in 2005.
On October 7, 2005, McMichael signed a four-year contract extension with the Dolphins to keep him with the team through the 2009 season. The four-year extension was worth slightly more than $18 million in "new money" and includes $8.92 million in bonuses. On average, it ranked slightly behind the deal signed by fellow tight end Todd Heap
Todd Heap
Todd Benjamin Heap is an American football tight end for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arizona State-Early years:At Mountain View High School, in Mesa, Arizona,...
of the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
around the same time.
The Dolphins' offense struggled as a whole in 2006, and like Chris Chambers, McMichael was not consistently and often utilized by quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Joey Harrington
Joey Harrington
John Joseph "Joey" Harrington, Jr. is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions third overall in the 2002 NFL Draft, where he played for most of his professional career. He ranks third all-time in Detroit history in pass completions, with 986...
. For the season, McMichael finished second on the team in receptions with 62 catches for 640 yards and three touchdowns. In a three-game span (from October 8 through October 22) he totaled 21 catches for 233 yards. He finished fifth among AFC tight ends in receptions and was sixth in receiving yards. He led the team in receptions five times and in reception yardage four times during the season.
For the fifth straight year, McMichael started all 16 games of the season. Through 2006, McMichael played 80 career games without ever missing a start. At season's end, McMichael was already the team's all-time leading tight end in receptions and receiving yards, and ranked third in touchdowns.
The Dolphins released McMichael on March 5, 2007, in lieu of paying him a $3 million bonus due the following week. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/football/pro/dolphins/sfl-dolmove030707,0,1644454.story?coll=sfla-dolphins-front
St. Louis Rams
On March 8, 2007, the St. Louis RamsSt. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
signed McMichael to a three-year, $11 million deal that includes a $3 million signing bonus. The deal reunited McMichael with Scott Linehan
Scott Linehan
Scott Thomas Linehan is an American football coach, currently the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the NFL. He was previously the head coach of the St...
, the Dolphins' 2005 offensive coordinator and then head coach of the Rams. McMichael suffered a season-ending right tibia injury against Buffalo on September 8, 2008, and missed the rest of the 2008 NFL season
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, after posting 11 catches for 139 yards. The 2009 NFL season
2009 NFL season
The 2009 NFL season was the 90th regular season of the National Football League.The preseason started with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on August 9, 2009, and the regular season began September 10. The season ended with Super Bowl XLIV, the league's championship game, on February 7, 2010 at...
he played all 16 games, finishing with 34 catches for 332 yards and 1 touchdown.
San Diego Chargers
Ever since signing with the team in 2009, McMichael has been mostly known for his blocking ability. On November 7, 2010, McMichael got his first start in two years due to star tight end Antonio GatesAntonio Gates
Antonio Gates is an American football tight end for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003 after playing college basketball at Kent State University...
being injured in a game against the Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
he caught two catches that went for touchdowns, San Diego went on to win 29-23.
Personal
Randy is married to Cawanna. He has a daughter, Sierra, and two sons, Isaiah and Shawn. He earned a Bachelor of ScienceBachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in family and consumer science at Georgia.