Malcom Floyd

Undrafted free agent who became a deep-threat wide receiver for the San Diego Chargers.

Malcom Maiuu Floyd (born September 8, 1981) is a former American professional football wide receiver who spent his entire NFL career with the San Diego Chargers. He joined the team as an undrafted free agent in 2004 after playing college football at the University of Wyoming.

Floyd was born Malcom Floyd Maiuu Seabron in Sacramento, California. He attended River City High School in West Sacramento, where he earned All-Metro honors and was named league Offensive MVP, also earning first-team all-league recognition in basketball.

At Wyoming, Floyd redshirted as a freshman in 1999 and majored in health sciences. As a sophomore, he was named first-team all-conference by Football News and Sporting News. He finished his college career with 186 receptions for 2,411 yards and 14 touchdowns, earning honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference as a senior.

Despite not being invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, Floyd signed with the Chargers on April 30, 2004. He was waived on September 5, added to the practice squad two days later, and promoted to the active roster on December 11. In his first start on January 2, 2005, against the Kansas City Chiefs, he caught his first NFL touchdown—a 13-yard pass from Philip Rivers that was also Rivers’s first career touchdown. Floyd also set up a second-quarter touchdown with a 27-yard catch. He served as a backup in the Wild Card playoff game against the New York Jets.

In 2005, Floyd was released on September 3 and returned to the practice squad two days later. He spent the first 12 weeks there before being signed to the main roster on December 7, but remained inactive for the rest of the season.

The 2006 season saw Floyd catch a 31-yard touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens after Samari Rolle slipped in coverage. He followed that with a nine-yard tip-toe touchdown in the corner of the end zone against Pittsburgh, then hauled in a career-long 46-yard touchdown pass in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals. For that game, he was named Chargers Alumni Player of the Week after substituting for an injured Eric Parker, posting his first 100-yard game with five catches for 109 yards and a touchdown. An ankle injury sidelined him for Week 13 against the Denver Broncos, and he was placed on injured reserve on December 14.

In 2007, Floyd made a 25-yard catch on a 3rd-and-13 play in the second half against the Green Bay Packers, setting up a 21-yard touchdown by LaDainian Tomlinson. He also extended a touchdown drive against the Oakland Raiders with a 16-yard catch on third down.

Re-signed as a restricted free agent in 2008, Floyd played 13 games with three starts, recording 27 receptions for 465 yards and four touchdowns. After Chris Chambers was released in 2009, Floyd became the team’s number two starting receiver, playing all 16 games with 45 catches for 776 yards (17.2 yards per reception) and one touchdown.

Floyd signed a one-year RFA tender on June 7, 2010. Despite missing five games with a groin injury, he played 11 games, catching 37 passes for 717 yards and averaging 19.4 yards per catch, emerging as an elite downfield threat.

Following the 2011 NFL lockout, Floyd was courted by the Ravens but re-signed with the Chargers on August 5 for two years. Despite missing four games due to injury, he posted a career-high 856 receiving yards, averaging 19.9 yards per catch—the ninth-highest average in team history among players with at least 40 catches. Notably, 41 of his 43 catches that season went for first downs, a 95.3 percent clip that ranked second in NFL history (minimum 32 catches), behind only Henry Ellard’s 95.9 percent in 1994.

In 2012, Floyd was on pace for a 1,000-yard season but missed two games due to an ankle injury. He still led the team with a career-high 56 catches and scored five touchdowns.

During training camp on August 12, 2013, Floyd was carted off with a potentially serious right knee injury, but an MRI revealed no ligament tear. On September 15, in a Week 2 game against the Philadelphia Eagles, he was again carted off after an undisclosed head injury. He was awake and alert in the hospital, had feeling in all limbs, and flew back to San Diego with the team. He was placed on injured reserve on October 1 due to the neck injury.

Floyd returned in 2014, playing in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals and catching four passes for 50 yards, including a six-yard touchdown. After missing the final 14 games the prior season, he played all 16 games for just the second time in his career, finishing with 52 catches and six touchdowns. His 856 receiving yards tied his career high and led the team for the second time in three years.

Quick Facts

Affiliation: San Diego Chargers (2004–2015)
Career receptions with chargers: 321

Facts from the source article.

Background

Floyd was born Malcom Maiuu Floyd in Sacramento, California. He played at River City High School in West Sacramento, California, where he was an All-Metro and Offensive MVP of the league. He was also a First-team all-league selection in basketball. He attended the University of Wyoming (1999–2004), majoring in health sciences.

As a freshman, he redshirted in 1999. He was a First-team all-conference selection by Football News and Sporting News as a sophomore. He finished his career with 186 catches for 2,411 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was an Honorable mention All-Mountain West Conference as a senior.

Floyd's older brother, Malcolm, played wide receiver for the Houston Oilers from 1994–1997. Their parents named Malcom after his older brother, with their father introducing the spelling difference. Floyd’s mother, Leataata, resided in Sacramento where she volunteered as a mentor, tutor, counselor and ambassador, who taught Polynesian dancing after school each day at one of the poorest schools in the city. In 2012, the Sacramento School District paid tribute to Floyd by changing the name of the school where she had given so much of her time from Jedediah Smith Elementary to Leataata Floyd Elementary.

Floyd and his wife, Daphne, have two sons, Maiu and Malc. In his spare time, Malcom enjoys playing basketball, bodyboarding at Mission Beach and spending time grilling out with his family. An all-conference hoopster in high school, Floyd’s team won the school’s intramural championship while he was an undergrad at Wyoming.

Did You Know?

Floyd caught his first NFL touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Philip Rivers, which was also Rivers's first career touchdown.
In 2011, 41 of Floyd's 43 catches went for first downs, a 95.3% rate that was the second-highest in NFL history (minimum 32 catches).