(born
April 12 ,
1944 in
Los Angeles, California ) is a former
American Football player who won the 1965
Heisman Trophy as a
Tailback for the
University Of Southern California Trojans. Garrett played professional football for eight seasons, and is currently the
Athletic Director at USC.
A two time
All-America n, Garrett set numerous
NCAA ,
Pac 10 Conference and USC records in his career by amassing a then unheard of 3,221 yards and scored 30
Touchdowns . He also caught 36 passes, returned 43 punts, returned 30 kickoffs and threw 6 passes. Two of his passes went for touchdowns. In
1985 he was voted into the
College Football Hall Of Fame .
Garrett signaled the dawn of the "
Tailback U " era, where USC chugged out a stream of top tailbacks included Heisman winners
O.J. Simpson ('68),
Charles White ('79), and
Marcus Allen ('81); as well as Heisman runners-up
Anthony Davis ('74) and
Ricky Bell ('76).
He went on to star in the
American Football League playing for the
Kansas City Chiefs (1966-1969) and the NFL Chiefs in 1970 before he was traded to the NFL
San Diego Chargers (1970-1973). He was a two-time
AFL All-Star in 1966 and 1967. Garrett played in the first ever
AFL-NFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl I) with the Chiefs after the 1966 season. He contributed 17 rushing yards, 3 receptions for 28 yards, and 2 kickoff returns for 43 yards in their Super Bowl I loss.
Garrett won a World Championship ring with the Chiefs in the last
AFL-NFL World Championship Game (Super Bowl IV) , when the AFL's Chiefs crushed the heavily favored NFL Vikings 23-7. Garrett was the top rusher of Super Bowl IV with 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown, also catching 2 passes for 25 yards and returning a kickoff for 18 yards.
In his 8 professional football seasons, Garrett rushed for 5,481 yards, caught 238 passes for 2,010 yards, returned 14 kickoffs for 323 yards, and returned 39 punts for 235 yards. Overall, Garrett gained a total of 8,049 yards and scored 49 touchdowns(35 rushing, 13 receiving, 1 punt return).
After his professional football career, Mike Garrett earned his
Juris Doctor from
Western State University College Of Law in
1986 , but never passed the bar exam. He was the director of business development for the
Great Western Forum , worked in the
District Attorney 's office in
San Diego and worked in various management positions. He also did
Color Commentary for USC football telecasts.
In January
1993 , Garrett returned to USC to become its sixth
Athletic Director . He came under fire when he hired the heavily-criticized
Pete Carroll as head football coach in 2001, but redeemed himself when USC returned to status as a dominant football power.
Garrett graduated from
Roosevelt High School in
Los Angeles, California .
Garrett was a brother of
Alpha Phi Omega while a student at USC.
Other American Football League Players
