Kevin McClelland, Millennium Hall of Fame

Regardless of one’s speed, strength and savvy, the violent nature

of football can end the career of even the game’s best players.

Kevin McClelland (Newport Harbor High) wasn’t ready to give up the

sport, but after three concussions during his redshirt freshman season at

Boise State, it was time to reevaluate his life.

A member of the Big Sky Conference All-Academic team in 1987,

McClelland, a bone-crushing 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker with

aspirations of playing in the NFL, was forced to stop the helmet bashing.

“It was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made,”

McClelland said of terminating his collegiate football career, after

experiencing post-concussion syndrome.

“It took me a long time to get over that decision ... several years.

But I felt like it was the best thing I ever did. It was so eye-opening,

because I was so narrow-minded about one thing and one thing only, and

that was football. Once I was past (the post-career depression), I had

more balance in my life and I started to focus on family, friends and

education.”

Considered an excellent athlete under Newport Harbor football coach

Mike Giddings, McClelland was a three-year varsity performer who started

on both sides of the ball his junior and senior years.

The Sailors won Sea View League championships all three years

McClelland suited up (1983 through ‘85). Giddings used him on offense at

backup quarterback, fullback, tailback and tight end, but McClelland

preferred ripping into ballcarriers and made All-CIF Southern Section

Central Conference as an outside ‘backer in the autumn of 1985, when the

Tars also featured quarterback Shane Foley (USC) and wide receiver Mark

Craig (Long Beach State).

“What made me believe (in a pro football future) is that, when I was

in high school and college, I had size,” McClelland said. “I did not

necessarily have the quintessential linebacker speed, but I had speed, a

solid understanding of the game and I could hit and hit well.”

As a senior, McClelland rushed for 385 yards in 77 carries and caught

55 of Foley’s passes for 577 yards, scoring nine touchdowns -- five

receiving, four via the ground -- as the Tars finished 10-3 and reached the CIF Central Conference semifinals. But the Sailors two years earlier

made a bigger impact.

“From my point of view, the greatest team Newport Harbor ever had was

in my sophomore year (fall of ‘83),” said McClelland, who was called up

to the varsity that season as an insurance policy for running back Steve

Brazas.

“A lot of what Coach Giddings taught was very instrumental to a lot of

peoples’ success,” added McClelland, whose Sailor teams went 27-7-3 in

three years. “Giddings brought in a formalized standard of football to

the table.”

McClelland earned a full scholarship to Boise State, at the time a

Division I-AA school where he played linebacker and tight end.

Before arriving in Idaho, McClelland was the Defensive Player of the

Game in the 1986 Orange County All-Star football game at Orange Coast

College, a 28-13 victory for the South, which also included Foley.

McClelland intercepted a key pass late in the first half and

contributed several important tackles on third down for the South. The

North, with its vaunted backfield of Ray Pallares (Valencia) and Chuck

Weatherspoon (La Habra), was stuffed in the first half for a combined 17

rushing yards as McClelland made his presence felt.

“That was a very defining moment,” said McClelland, an easy choice for

All-Sea View League honors that year.

McClelland, who didn’t play football until the seventh grade, played

basketball and baseball at Newport Harbor and excelled in all three

sports -- until he decided to concentrate on football year-round.

“I enjoyed hitting people, getting down on the ground, getting back up

and getting back to the huddle,” he said of his first Pop Warner

experience.

McClelland’s career, however, was cut short because of head injuries.

“It’s kind of a sad (story) in terms of sports, but on the flip side,

(retiring from football early in college) was the best thing that ever

happened to me,” McClelland said. “We all wanted to play sports forever.”

These days, McClelland owns a software development company that he

launched 2 1/2 years ago with a business partner called Global Resource

Corp., based in Irvine.

McClelland, who received his business degree from San Diego State,

lives in Mission Viejo and is single. But the latest honoree in the Daily

Pilot Sports Hall of Fame to celebrate the millennium is hopeful of

marriage to Nikki.