McGlockton Was a Rock on Raiders' D-Line
Chester McGlockton might have been the best defensive tackle who has ever played for the Oakland-Los Angeles-Las Vegas Raiders, and a player who might have been underrated because he never played for a championship team.
The 6-3, 334-pound McGlockton was selected with the 16th overall pick of the 1992 National Football League Draft by the Raiders and became the rock in the middle of the Silver and Black defensive line that included Hall of Famer Howie Long and Greg Townsend, another outstanding defensive end.
After making 18 tackles and three sacks as a part-time player as a rookie, McGlockton moved in as a starter in his second season with the Raiders and immediately was productive, making 79 total tackles, seven sacks, returning an interception 19 yards for a touchdown, and adding a fumble recovery.
“There was no one in the NFL who could block Chester if he didn’t want to be blocked,” Raiders All-Pro guard Steve Wisniewski told Steve Corkran of the Bay Area News Group. “He had that ability to be a dominant force like a Mean Joe Greene. He was as good as they come.”
McGlockton simply kept getting better, making 340 tackles and recording 39½ sacks, forcing 10 fumbles, while recovering another five and intercepting two passes over 90 games in the six seasons he played for the Raiders. He had four seasons with at least seven sacks, including a career-high 9.5 in 1994, was selected to the Pro Bowl in his last four years with the Raiders, and was a three-time All-Pro, from 1994-96.
However, McGlockton left the Raiders as a free agent in 1998 and played three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, two with the Denver Broncos, and one with the New York Jets before retiring after the 1993 season, but he never again reached the heights he achieved with the Raiders.
McGlockton finished his NFL career with 526 tackles, and 51 sacks, and forced 14 fumbles in addition to recovering nine, in addition to making four interceptions.
After beginning his career as a High School All-American as a tight end and defensive lineman at Whiteville High School in Whiteville, N.C., leading the Wolfpack to a 15-0 record, the North Carolina State Championship, and a USA Today National Ranking as a senior, McGlockton moved on to Clemson.
As a freshman for the Tigers, McGlockton forced West Virginia quarterback Major Harris to fumble and recovered the ball in the end zone for the final touchdown as the Tigers beat West Virginia, 27-7, in 1989 Gator Bowl. He was a freshman All-American and was named All-Atlantic Coast Conference as a senior when Clemson went 9-2-1 and won the ACC title.
McGlockton had 20 sacks in three seasons at Clemson, which led the nation in total defense in 1990 and led the nation in rushing defense in 1991.
After retiring from the NFL, McGlockton went into coaching and spent the 2009 season as an intern for the Tennessee Volunteers, then coached led by ex-Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin. Just one year later, McGlockton traveled to Stanford and joined Coach Jim Harbaugh’s staff as a defensive assistant.
Tragically, McGlockton died suddenly on November 30, 2011.
“Chester was a great guy, good man, doing the right things. … ” Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh said. “He was helping a lot of people. We’re really going to miss him. To say he was coming into his own as a coach would be understating it. He had already blossomed. He was so positive with the players and with the other coaches. He always had coaching advice or spiritual advice, a smile for you.”
The coroner’s report said McGlockton had an enlarged heart.
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