T. J. McDonald is an American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 safety for the USC Trojans.

Early years

McDonald attended Edison High School in Fresno, California

Fresno, California

Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...

. He was considered the second best safety recruit in the nation by Rivals.com

Rivals.com

Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting. The network was started in 1996 and currently employs more than 300 personnel.-Schools:The individual collegiate sites can be found...

 and Scout.com

Scout.com

Scout.com is an integrated sports publishing company that produces both an Internet and print product. Scout has more than 2.1 million visitors...

.

College career

As a freshman in 2009, McDonald was a backup safety and special teamer, recording seven tackles in 13 games. In 2010 he took over as a starter and had a team leading 89 tackles, three interceptions and a sack

Quarterback sack

In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...

. He was a second team All-Pac 10 selection.

Personal

His father, Tim McDonald

Tim McDonald

Tim McDonald is a former professional American football player who played strong safety in the NFL.-High school:McDonald played high school football at Edison High School in Fresno....

 also attended USC and played 13 years in the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

External links

• USC Trojans bio