Player Spotlight: Rod McNeil

MCNEILUSC tailback Rod McNeil definitely falls into the category of underappreciated Trojans. He played on the 1972 national championship team, considered by some the greatest team in college football history. He happened to play around the time USC had some of its highest-profile tailbacks (Anthony Davis, Ricky Bell, Charles White, Marcus Allen) so he doesn’t get mentioned a lot. His brother, Fred, played defensive end at UCLA, which made the crosstown rivalry even more fun in the early 1970’s.

8 thoughts on “Player Spotlight: Rod McNeil

  1. Thanks, Scott. I really enjoy reading about SC players from the past.

    Rod suffered a broken hip, but came back from that injury to earn the starting tailback job for the 1972 season, which he held for most of the year. Anthony Davis began the season as the third string tailback and worked his way up on the depth chart. Rod McNeil was a talented football player, always a gentleman, and seems to have done well in life.

  2. The only people that don’t revere Rod are you and bucket. Rod was the MAN. AD wouldn’t have seen the field if Rod hadn’t been hurt.

  3. I hardly remember Rod. But then again, I cannot recall what I had for dinner 2 nights ago

    Still, it is a nice gesture by Scott to bring to our attention footballers who we have forgotten

  4. Clarence Davis is another that is over looked,and was an exceedingly powerful runner

    • Plus he had a great career with the Raiders before the Raider became a gang favorite.

  5. One fo my favorite players… love to watch him run and take on a tackler.

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