Phil McConkey
| No. 80 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | February 24, 1957 | ||||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Buffalo, New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 170 lb (77 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Buffalo (NY) Canisius | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Navy | ||||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 1979 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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| Receptions: | 67 |
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| Receiving yards: | 1,113 |
| Receiving avg.: | 16.6 |
| Receiving TDs: | 2 |
| Kick return yards: | 1,324 |
| Punt return yards: | 1,832 |
| Player stats at NFL.com | |
Philip Joseph "Phil" McConkey (born February 24, 1957, Buffalo, New York) is a former American football wide receiver who played for the New York Giants (1984–1988), Green Bay Packers (1986), Phoenix Cardinals (1989), and San Diego Chargers (1989) of the National Football League.
McConkey grew up in Buffalo, New York, the son of Joe, a Buffalo police officer, and Jean McConkey (1936–2013). His father also worked side jobs and managed to pay for Phil and his sister, Debbie, to attend private schools.
He attended Canisius High School, and during that time Canisius didn’t lose a football game during McConkey's last three seasons when they were one of the top teams in the state. He played both defensive back and wide receiver, earning local honors, but in his senior year in 1975 he still weighed only 140 pounds.
He knew the only way he could attend college was on a scholarship, but he received no offers until he earned an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
McConkey played college football for the Navy Midshipmen, catching 56 passes for 1,028 yards, while also gaining 1,039 special teams return yards and scoring 13 touchdowns (10 receiving, two rushing and one punt return).
In his senior season, McConkey helped lead the Midshipmen to a 9-3 record. In his last game for Navy in 1978, McConkey led Navy to a come-from-behind 23-16 win over Brigham Young University and star quarterback Jim McMahon in the inaugural Holiday Bowl and was named MVP.
McConkey had completed his mandatory five years in the U.S. Navy as an officer and helicopter pilot when he decided to try to play professional football even though he was already 27. He weighed barely 160 pounds and hadn’t played football in five years. The first person he approached was Steve Belichick, Navy's backfield coach and scout, who timed him at a speedy 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash. Belichick then contacted his son, Bill Belichick, who had just been elevated to defensive coordinator of the New York Giants under head coach Bill Parcells.
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