Karl Mecklenburg
Seattle, Washington, U.S. | |||||
Career information | |||||
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College: | Minnesota | ||||
NFL draft: | 1983 / Round: 12 / Pick: 310 | ||||
Career history | |||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Karl Bernard Mecklenburg (born September 1, 1960), nicknamed "the Albino Rhino", is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
National Football League
In
Since retiring from pro football in 1994, Mecklenburg divides his time between family,
Mecklenburg is considered one of the greatest Denver Broncos of all time, according to NFL Films top 10 Denver Broncos of All Time.
Concussions
Mecklenburg suffered "at least a dozen +10 concussions" during his football career.[1] By his early fifties, Mecklenburg was experiencing cognitive issues, including memory impairment, which he attributes to the concussions he sustained.[1][2]
Mecklenburg was a plaintiff in concussion-related litigation against the NFL: "I didn't buy in to professional football with the understanding that I was going to have brain damage. I expected to have a limp. I expected to have sore joints. Bad shoulder, whatever. But that other part, that was kept from us and that wasn't right."[1]
Video games
The digital version of Mecklenburg anchored the 3–4 defense of the Denver Broncos in the NES video games Tecmo Bowl (1989) and Tecmo Super Bowl (1991). Mecklenburg appears in the video game Madden NFL 15 (2014) in the Ultimate Team mode, as a 97 Overall player.
Charity work
Mecklenburg has been the Broncos representative for Taste of the NFL, started For Mercy Sake Sackem, started The Karl Mecklenburg's REACH foundation, has been a board member for Colorado Youth Outdoors, hosted charity celebrity ski races in Durango and in Aspen, worked with Project Healing Waters, and has served as an assistant Scout Master. Karl says, "I take the opportunity and responsibility to work with charities very seriously".
References
- ^ a b c Frei, Terry (August 25, 2013). "Collision Opinions". Denver Post. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
- ^ Reilly, Rick (November 6, 2013). "Football getting harder to watch". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.