Khalil Mack

Early life

Mack was raised by his parents, high school sweethearts Yolanda, a teacher, and Sandy Mack, Sr., a program specialist, in Fort Pierce, Florida. He has an older brother, Sandy, Jr., and a younger brother, LeDarius. His father introduced him to sports at the age of five. Mack took an early liking to baseball and basketball although he did play Pop Warner football.

Mack attended Fort Pierce Westwood High School in Fort Pierce. He had played quarterback. He was nicknamed "Bombshell Man". However throwing the ball short was a major struggle for Mack. So he became a linebacker. The rest of his athletic career he had been relying on basketball to get him a college scholarship but his plans were dashed by a tear in his patella tendon before his sophomore season. After this injury, his high school football coach, Waides Ashmon, recruited him to the sport, promising Mack and his parents that it would earn him a scholarship.

In his senior year, Mack had 140 tackles, including eight for a loss, and nine sacks. He was named third-team All-State in Florida, as well as first-team All-Area, and helped lead the Panthers to a district championship. Being a newcomer to the sport, he was rated as only a two-star recruit by Rivals.com. He received a scholarship from the State University of New York at Buffalo to play Division I football.

2010 season

After redshirting as a freshman in 2009, Mack broke into the starting lineup and was one of the most productive defenders in the MAC. He totaled 68 tackles, including 14 and a half for loss, four and a half sacks, ten pass breakups, eight quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles. He earned third team all-conference honors.

He chose to wear the uniform number 46, an unconventional number for a linebacker, as a motivational reminder that his true potential was not being recognized - 46 was the overall rating assigned to him (out of a maximum of 99) in EA Sports' college football video game, NCAA Football 11.

2011 season

Mack continued where he left off in 2010, with a dominant sophomore season. Mack led the team in sacks, tackles for loss, and forced fumbles, on the way to being named first-team All-MAC. He recorded 64 total tackles, including 20 and a half for loss (third best in the nation), five and half sacks, one interception, two pass breakups, thirteen quarterback hurries, and five forced fumbles.

2012 season

Despite being suspended for the first game of the season following an altercation with teammate wide receiver Fred Lee, Mack set career highs in tackles (94), tackles for loss (21 - fourth in the nation), and sacks (8). He also recorded two pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, and four forced fumbles. He earned first team all-conference honors for the second consecutive season.

2013 season

Starting all 13 games, Mack recorded 100 tackles including 19 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, three interceptions, one which he returned for a touchdown, and forced five fumbles. He won the CFPA Linebacker Trophy for the 2013 season, and he was named the 2013 MAC Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Bull to win the award in Buffalo's history within the MAC (1999-present). He was also named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press. Mack finished tied for first for the NCAA in career tackles for loss with 75 and set a new record for forced fumbles with 16. Buffalo's independent student newspaper, The Spectrum, also ranked Mack as the best Buffalo football player in the Division I history of the program.

Records

Professional career

Leading up to the 2014 NFL Draft, Mack was projected as a high first round pick in many mock drafts. He was selected with the fifth overall pick by the Oakland Raiders, making him the highest selected Buffalo player ever, and the first (and only) selected in the first round. Previously, the highest selected player from Buffalo was defensive tackle Gerry Philbin, who was selected 33rd overall by the New York Jets in 1964. He chose to switch from his college uniform number, 46, to 52 in order to comply with the NFL's numbering rules.

2014 season

Mack had an outstanding rookie season with the Oakland Raiders. He started and played in all 16 games. He recorded 76 total tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble. By the end of his rookie season, Mack was considered a candidate for AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Mack eventually finished in third place in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting behind defensive tackle Aaron Donald of the St. Louis Rams and linebacker C. J. Mosley of the Baltimore Ravens. He was, however, named the Defensive Rookie of the Year by analysts on ESPN's NFL Live and was one of three linebackers selected to USA Football's sixth annual All-Fundamentals Team (the others being All-Pro veterans Luke Kuechly of the Carolina Panthers and Tamba Hali of the Kansas City Chiefs).

2015 season

In March 2015, the NFL amended the league's uniform numbering rules to allow linebackers to wear the numbers 40-49. As a result, Mack considered reverting from the number 52 to 46, the number he wore during his college career, but ultimately decided not to do so. In August 2015, Mack was named as the NFL's number one "making the leap" player. Before the start of the season, Mack shifted from linebacker to right defensive end, and played at both positions.

On December 13, Mack finished a game against the Denver Broncos with five sacks, tying a Raiders franchise record for sacks in a game, previously set by defensive end Howie Long in 1983. The game, which the Raiders won 15-12, was the franchise's first over the Broncos since September 2011. The following week, Mack was announced to be going to the Pro Bowl, his first, along with teammates safety Charles Woodson and fullback Marcel Reece.

After the conclusion of the season, Mack became the first player in NFL history to make the AP All-Pro First Team at two different positions in the same year. He was ranked 13th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.

2016 season

On November 27, in a 35-32 victory over the Carolina Panthers in Week 12, Mack recorded the first career interception off of Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, and returned it six yards for his first career touchdown. Mack also forced a fumble from Newton in the final minute of the game to seal the win for the Raiders. Mack finished the game with an interception, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and a defensive touchdown, making him the first player since Charles Woodson, who was with the Green Bay Packers at the time, in 2009 to do so. His performance earned him AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 12. Mack also earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November, registering four sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception. He helped lead the Raiders to their first playoff appearance since the 2002 season. Mack was named to his second consecutive Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro. Mack was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2016 season. In the 2016 season, in addition to recording 11.0 sacks, Mack set a new career high in forced fumbles with five and fumbles recovered with three.

2017 season

On April 20, 2017, the Raiders picked up the fifth-year option on Mack's contract.

Personal life

Mack taught himself to play guitar as a freshman at the University at Buffalo and enjoys singing and writing music. His reputation as a singer has led Raiders teammates to attempt to goad him into singing R. Kelly and Usher songs. He is a fan of musicians Tim McGraw and John Mayer.

Mack is an active Christian and spent much of his youth attending a church where his father was a deacon. Mack also enjoys spending time with his nieces, Maayana and Ma’kiyah, and counts his favorite film as Mary Poppins.

His younger brother LeDarius Mack signed with his alma mater, University of Buffalo on March 5, 2017, after two years at ASA College in Miami.