Mike Garrett

Did You Know?

• Garrett was a brother of the Alpha Kappa chapter of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity while a student at USC.
• He was a resident of the Maravilla housing projects as a child.
• In 1961, he was named Los Angeles City Player of the Year after rushing for 1,467 yards and scoring 153 points as a high school senior.

College career

Garrett had wanted to play college football at UCLA, but the relationship did not work out; instead he attended USC, where coach John McKay was creating an offense featuring the tailback. A two-time All-American (including a unanimous selection in 1965), Garrett set numerous NCAA, Pac-8 Conference and USC records by amassing 3,221 yards and scoring 30 touchdowns. He led the nation in rushing in 1965 with 267 carries for 1,440 yards, also catching 36 passes, returning 43 punts (two for touchdowns of 87 and 74 yards), returning 30 kickoffs, and throwing six passes, two of which went for touchdowns.

He was the first USC player to run for over 1,000 yards since 1927, and in 1965 he ran for over 100 yards in all but one game (against Notre Dame). Garrett was awarded the 1965 W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy, won the Heisman Trophy after the 1965 regular season, and also won the Pop Warner Award, was named Athlete of the Year by the YMCA, and North American Athlete by the Helms Foundation. In 1985 he was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and in 2015 he was inducted into the California Sports Hall of Fame.

His nickname was "Iron Mike." Garrett signaled the dawn of the "Tailback U" era, setting the benchmark for USC tailbacks who followed him.

Professional career

Mike Garrett's path to professional football was anything but straightforward. In 1966, the AFL and NFL were still competing leagues with separate drafts, and Garrett had also been selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball. Rumors swirled that he might join the Los Angeles Rams if they made him their top pick, or that he had already agreed to terms with the Oakland Raiders. Despite winning the Heisman Trophy, he fell to the 20th round of the AFL draft, where the Kansas City Chiefs took him with the 178th pick out of 181.

The Rams grabbed him early in the second round of the NFL draft, but Garrett chose the Chiefs. He played for Kansas City in the AFL from 1966 through 1969, then stayed with the team in 1970 after the leagues merged. Midway through that season, he was traded to the San Diego Chargers, where he played until 1973. Garrett earned AFL All-Star honors in 1966 and 1967, and was named first-team All-AFL in 1967.

He appeared in Super Bowl I with the Chiefs, rushing for 17 yards, catching three passes for 28 yards, and returning two kickoffs for 43 yards in the loss. He won a championship ring in Super Bowl IV, where he led all rushers with 11 carries for 39 yards and a touchdown, added two catches for 25 yards, and returned a kickoff for 18 yards. His touchdown came on Hank Stram's famous 65 Toss Power Trap play. Garrett led the Chiefs in rushing three times.

After the trade to San Diego, he rushed for nearly 600 yards in 1971 and topped 1,000 yards in 1972, his best total since 1967 and the second-highest of his career. Over eight professional seasons, he amassed 5,481 rushing yards, 238 receptions for 2,010 yards, 14 kickoff returns for 323 yards, and 39 punt returns for 235 yards. His total yardage reached 8,049, and he scored 49 touchdowns: 35 on the ground, 13 through the air, and one on a punt return. Garrett was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Honor in 1978 and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2018.

After professional football

Mike Garrett earned a sociology degree from USC and, while still a student, co-founded the Cool Head Program to work with young people. After his NFL career ended, he completed a Juris Doctor at Western State University College of Law in 1986 but never sat for the bar exam. His professional path included serving as director of business development for the Great Western Forum, working in the San Diego district attorney's office, holding various management roles, and counseling youth.

He also provided color commentary for USC football broadcasts. In 1989, he founded the East Los Angeles Youth Activities Foundation, later renamed the Mike Garrett Foundation. After leaving football, he worked in real estate and construction and ran unsuccessfully for political office twice. The NCAA awarded him its Silver Anniversary Medal in 1990 for his post-college work.

Garrett returned to USC in January 1993 as its sixth athletic director. His 2001 hiring of Pete Carroll as head football coach drew criticism, but the decision was validated when USC regained national prominence. In 2005, he permitted safety Darnell Bing to wear Garrett’s retired number 20 for his senior season. In 2010, USC faced severe NCAA sanctions for its football program and self-imposed penalties on its basketball program after allegations involving Reggie Bush and O. J. Mayo.

On July 20, 2010, incoming USC president Max Nikias announced Garrett’s replacement by Pat Haden, effective August 3, 2010. Garrett became athletic director at Langston University, an NAIA historically black college in Oklahoma, in June 2013, resigning less than two years later. He serves on the board of the Lott IMPACT Trophy, awarded annually to college football’s top defensive player.