He eventually chose UCLA, where, as a history major, he ran for 100 or more yards in 17 collegiate games, was named the Bruins’ MVP in 1979 and 1980, earned first team All-American honors in 1980 and piled up 3,195 rushing yards, still placing him #2 all-time on the Westwood, CA, campus.

McNeil was selected in the 1st round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the New York Jets with the third overall pick, and went on to a spectacular 12 year career (1981-’92) with Gang Green. He finished his term with the team with 8,074 rushing yards, by far the most in franchise history and a figure that still places him 26^th all-time in NFL annals. Add in nearly 3,000 yards via the receiving route and a total of 50 touchdowns (38 on the ground) and it’s no wonder that Sports Illustrated called McNeil “the most underrated running back in NFL history” in an issue published in 2001.

But McNeil’s influence and legacy on the NFL and its players off the playing field is of equal importance and relevance. A decade ago, he was the lead plaintiff in the historic anti-trust lawsuit against the NFL that led directly to NFL players earning free agency. The higher salaries and easier movement between teams that resulted from that confrontation are both commonplace in the NFL today . . . but without McNeil’s courage, convictions and beliefs, who knows what the status of these contractual elements might be today?

Today, McNeil is busier than ever as a financial planner to athletes and other high-income individuals, as a sportscaster and football analyst on radio and TV, as a consultant on major business projects and alliances, as a sough-after motivational speaker and as a role model for numerous charities and non-profit organizations.