McGinest's BIO
The middle of three children, McGinest attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where he was a two sport phenom, garnering all-state honors in football and basketball. On the gridiron, he earned All-American recognition from Super Prep, Blue Chip and Tom Lemming magazines and was selected to countless all-star teams, earning all-city, all-state, and all-region honors as a linebacker in 1989. He totaled 107 tackles, including 18 sacks, two fumble recoveries, four passes defensed, including an interception, and blocked four kicks as a senior. On the courts, he earned Long Beach Press-Telegram “Best in the West, All-CIF Southern Section and all-league honors while averaging 14 points per game during the 1989-90 season.
Some of McGinest’s classmates at Poly included rappers Snoop Dogg and Warren G., singer Nate Dogg, actress Cameron Diaz, and GC Pro’s Paul Henry. From 1990 to 1993, McGinest played football at the University of Southern California. He wore number 55 and carried on the legacy of the jersey established by his predecessor, All-American linebacker Junior Seau.
McGinest earned all-conference honors three straight years and earned All-American acclaim. During his senior year (1993), he was a Lombardi Award finalist, and earned Playboy All-American and All-Pac-10 conference honors. He started every game at weakside defensive end for the Trojans. McGinest finished his collegiate career with 193 tackles (134 solos), 29 sacks (171 yards), 48 tackles for loss (238 yards) and 26 passes batted away, registered 68 tackles (42 solos), including 6 sacks and 13 tackles for losses, and caused one fumble and recovered another. McGinest received a degree in public administration from USC in 1994.
McGinest was drafted by the New England Patriots in the first round (fourth overall) of the 1994 NFL draft. He had been one of the cornerstones for New England’s success in winning the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003, and 2004. He was nominated to the Pro Bowl twice–in 1996 and 2003. At the start of the 2005 season, he ranked fourth among the Patriots all-time sack leaders with 72 career sacks.
In the 2005 wild-card game (which the Pats won 28-3) against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he set an NFL postseason record by recording 4.5 sacks in one game as well as breaking Bruce Smith’s record for the most all-time sacks in the postseason with 16 currently. His 78 career sacks rank third all time for the Patriots. The Patriots released the veteran linebacker on March 9, 2006. On March 15, 2006, he signed with the Cleveland Browns, whose head coach, Romeo Crennel, was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator. McGinest signed a three-year deal.
During 2008, he announced that he would like to end his professional football career in an interview. In 2009, he was voted to Poly’s High School’s Football Hall of Fame. After he retired from a football career, he served as an analyst for Fox Sports and ESPN. Later, he switched to NFL Network and played the same role as an analyst there. He is featured on various programs that include NFL Total Access.
When it comes to donating time and money to charitable organizations, McGinest has a solid reputation as being one of the most generous givers in all of sports. McGinest discovered the Willie McGinest Freedom School, an institution that solely focuses on nourishing social and cultural aspects for the younger generation. For his long-standing charitable efforts and civic involvement, the city council of Long Beach decided to declare May 3, 2005 as Willie McGinest Day to give recognition to his charitable works. But he did not stop there as in 2012 Willie established Foundation 55, a non profit organization based in his hometown of Long Beach. The organization’s mission is to promote social equity in urban areas where minority communities lack social equity. With this organization Willie consistently organizes events to improve the health and well-being of underserved and under-resourced populations. Willie is also the Chairman of the Long Beach Patriots youth football organization. In addition to teaching the basics of the game, the Long Beach Patriots emphasize the importance of academics and community involvement, as part of a dynamic experience for their young athletes and how that can translate to success on and off the field.
