No. 96 | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Gary, Indiana, U.S. | June 26, 1987||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 262 lb (119 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Merrillville (IN) | ||||||||||
College: | Purdue | ||||||||||
NFL draft: | 2010 / Round: 2 / Pick: 56 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Player stats at PFR |
Michael Jamel Neal (born June 26, 1987) is a former American football linebacker who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. Neal was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. With Green Bay, he won Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, Texas over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A native of Merrillville, Indiana, he attended Merrillville High School where he was first-team all-state as senior after totaling 59 tackles, including 24 for loss and 12 sacks, with 20 quarterback hurries, six pass breakups and one blocked kick. As a junior, had 49 tackles, including 14 for loss and four sacks, with three pass breakups and one fumble recovery.
Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com , he was rated as the 29th best strongside defensive end prospect of his class. [1]
Neal attended Purdue University from 2005 to 2009. After redshirting his 2005 freshman year, he appeared in nine games as a sophomore, he had nine tackles, including 1.0 for loss, and one pass breakup despite missing five games with turf toe injury. In 2007, he appeared in all 13 games, and recorded 22 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and 2.0 sacks, with one pass breakup. In 2008, he appeared in all 12 games, including 11 starts. He ranked second on team with 5.5 sacks and third with 10.0 tackles for loss, while adding 33 total tackles. As a redshirt senior, he started all 12 games, finishing third on the team in tackles for loss with 11.5 and second in sack with 5.0, while forcing one fumble.
External videos | |
---|---|
Neal's NFL Combine workout |
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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 294 lb (133 kg) | 33+1⁄2 | 10+1⁄4 | 4.95 s | 1.70 s | 2.84 s | 4.53 s | 7.53 s | 33 in (0.84 m) | 9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) | 31 reps | 20 [2] |
All values are from NFL Combine [3] [4] |
Neal was selected in the second round (56th overall) by the Green Bay Packers in the 2010 NFL draft. [5] Neal played two games during his rookie season in 2010, recording a sack, forced fumble 3 tackles. In 2011, he gained more playing time, seeing time in seven games. Neal played 11 games with 1 start, making 11 tackles with 4.5 sacks in 2012. On March 12, 2013, he re-signed with the Packers on a two-year deal. In 2013, Neal played all 16 games for the first time of his career, totalling 47 tackles, 5 sacks, an interception, and a forced fumble. He played all 16 games, recording 33 tackles with 4.5 sacks in 2014. In 2015, Neal played all 16 games for the third straight year, producing 36 tackles and 4 sacks. He had an impressive performance in the NFC wild card game against the Washington Redskins, where he sacked quarterback Kirk Cousins twice while also forcing a fumble.
The following statistics were retrieved from NFL.com. [6]
Year | Team | G | GS | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Solo | Ast | Sck | SFTY | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TDs | FF | FR | ||||
Regular season | ||||||||||||||||
2010 | GB | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2011 | GB | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | GB | 11 | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | GB | 16 | 10 | 47 | 36 | 11 | 5.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2014 | GB | 16 | 3 | 33 | 20 | 13 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | GB | 16 | 15 | 36 | 24 | 12 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 68 | 29 | 133 | 92 | 41 | 19.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
Postseason | ||||||||||||||||
2011 | GB | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2012 | GB | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2013 | GB | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2014 | GB | 2 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 | GB | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 8 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Julius Frazier Peppers is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was selected by the Carolina Panthers second overall in the 2002 NFL draft, and also played for the Chicago Bears from 2010 through 2013 and the Green Bay Packers from 2014 to 2016. After rejoining the Panthers for the 2017 season, he retired after the 2018 NFL season.
Colin Anthony Cole is a former American football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Iowa.
Abdul Hodge is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the tight ends coach at Iowa, where he played as a 3-time all Big-Ten linebacker. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2006 NFL draft.
Steve Josue is a former professional American football linebacker who played in the National Football League, NFL Europe, and Canadian Football League (CFL). Josue played college football at Carson–Newman.
Larry Birdine is a former gridiron football defensive end. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2007. He played college football at Oklahoma.
Patrick Christopher Lee is a former American football cornerback. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Lee won Super Bowl XLV with the Packers over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Auburn.
Letroy Shelton Guion Jr. is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football at Florida State. Guion was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Guion also played for the Green Bay Packers.
Phillip Blaine Merling is a former American football defensive end. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft. He played college football at Clemson University.
Clifford Samuel Avril is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers and was selected in the third round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions. He also played for the Seattle Seahawks, with whom he won Super Bowl XLVIII and made a Pro Bowl.
Alphonso Smith, Jr. is an American former professional and college football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. Smith played college football for Wake Forest University, and received consensus All-American honors. He was selected by the Denver Broncos in the second round of the 2009 NFL draft, and also played for the NFL's Detroit Lions.
Busari Alamu Raji Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Boston College Eagles. Raji was selected by the Green Bay Packers with the ninth overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft. He won Super Bowl XLV with the Packers against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
William Clay Matthews III, primarily known as Clay Matthews, is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). The six-time Pro Bowl selection and two-time All-Pro played 10 seasons for the Green Bay Packers and 1 season for the Los Angeles Rams. He is the all-time official sack leader for the Packers, with 83.5.
Bradley Edward Jones is a former American football linebacker. He was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft, and played college football at Colorado. With the Packers, he was part of their Super Bowl XLV team that beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Nicholas Joel Perry is an American former football linebacker who played seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers. He played college football at USC. Perry was drafted by the Packers in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft.
Michael Wayne Daniels Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft.
Khyri Jerome Thornton is an American football defensive tackle who is a free agent. He played college football at Southern Miss, and was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2014 NFL draft. He has also been a member of the New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, St. Louis BattleHawks and Toronto Argonauts.
Joe Lewis Thomas Jr. is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at South Carolina State, and was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2014.
Derrick Brown is an American football defensive end for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Auburn and was drafted by the Panthers in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft.
Justin Hollins is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Oregon, and was selected by the Denver Broncos in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft. He has also played for the Los Angeles Rams.
Tyler Coyle is an American football safety for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He went undrafted in the 2021 NFL draft. He played college football at Connecticut and Purdue, and previously played for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.