Khalil Mack Trademarks

Khalil Mack is a linebacker in the National Football League. He plays for the Chicago Bears, is a six-time Pro Bowler, and is considered to be one of the Best 100 Bears of All Time.

Khalil Delshon Mack is from Fort Pierce, Florida, and was born in 1991. His parents, Yolanda and Sandy Mack Sr. were high school sweethearts. He is a program specialist and she is a school teacher. The senior Mack introduced his three sons, Khalil, Sandy Jr, and LeDarius to sports at an early age. Khalil excelled at baseball and basketball, but his father also encouraged him to play Pop Warner football.

Mack would attend local Fort Pierce Westwood High School, where he focused on basketball. He also played football as a quarterback, however, he had trouble learning to pass and was large in stature, so he switched positions to linebacker. Up until this time, football had been a secondary sport for Mack, who planned to make a career out of basketball. He then suffered a devastating injury, a tear to his patella tendon, during his sophomore year. Believing that basketball would be out of the question as a long-term career option, he was convinced by his football coach to switch his focus. The coach promised Mack and his family that he would be able to earn a scholarship to college through football, and he was right.

By the time Mack was a senior in high school, he was excelling at football and helped his team to a division title. He had nine sacks and 140 tackles that year. He was named First Team All-Area and Third Team All-State, although his short time focusing on the sport led to him being ranked as only a two-star prospect.

Mack received an offer to play for the State University of New York at Buffalo and he accepted. He redshirted his freshman year in 2009. In his first year playing, he had four and a half sacks with 68 tackles (14.5 for a loss), two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He also had 10 pass break ups and eight quarterback hurries. He was even more impressive in 2011, with five and a half sacks, 65 combined tackles, five forced fumbles, two pass breakups, and an interception. He was given First Team All-Conference honors for the season. Mack continued to improve as a junior, recording eight sacks with 94 combined tackles. He also had two pass break ups, two pass deflections, and four forced fumbles. He was again awarded First Team All-Conference honors.

In his final year at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Mack started and played in all 13 games. He recorded 10.5 sacks and 100 combined tackles. He also had five forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries, as well as seven pass break ups and 10 pass deflections with six quarterback hurries. He also scored his first and only collegiate touchdown that season. Mack was awarded the College Football Performance Awards 2013 Linebacker Trophy and Second Team All-American honors by the Associated Press. He was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year for 2013.

After college, Mack was selected in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was chosen fourth by the then Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders under head coach, Jack Del Rio. He signed a four-year contract worth more than $18.5 million. He had four sacks and 76 combined tackles with three pass deflections and a forced fumble in his first season. With 15 sacks and 77 combined tackles in 2015, he was voted to the Pro Bowl. He was also listed as 13th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016 list. For the 2016 season, he had 11 sacks, 73 combined tackles, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and an interception, which he returned for a touchdown. He was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Pro, voted to his second Pro Bowl, and listed as 5th on the NFL Top 100 Players List. He started in all 16 games in 2017 and recorded 10.5 sacks and 78 combined tackles. He was again voted to the Pro Bowl and was listed at 16th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

In the following season, Mack sat out of training camp, hoping to push the issue of his contract extension. Due to a change in head coach and his hold-out, Mack was traded to the Chicago Bears for draft picks. His first game for the Bears was against the Green Bay Packers. After a strip-sack on their backup quarterback, Mack intercepted the ball on a pass play and ran it back for a touchdown. Mack has continued to be voted to the Pro Bowl every year with the Bears and he is still an active player for the team.

In 2020, Khalil Mack obtained a federal trademark registration for “FIFTY-DEUCE” (a play on his jersey number) for use on sweatshirts, tank tops, shorts, shoes, and other apparel-related items.