Ovie Phillip Mughelli (born June 10, 1980) is a former American football fullback who played for the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Wake Forest University, he was selected by the Ravens in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL draft.
 Mughelli with the Ravens in 2006 | |||||||||||||
| No. 34 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Fullback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | June 10, 1980 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Charleston (SC) Porter-Gaud | ||||||||||||
| College: | Wake Forest | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2003 / round: 4 / pick: 134 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Early life
editMughelli attended Porter-Gaud School and a letterman in football, basketball, tennis, and track & field. In football, he rushed for more than 4,500 yards and scored 69 touchdowns during his career at Porter-Gaud, and he rushed for 2,167 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior. He was named the team's MVP for three years, was a three-time All-Conference selection, and as a senior, he was also named the State Player of the Year in his classification and was a Regional All-Star selection in all division. He also led the team to a state title in 1996 and state runner-up honors during his senior year in 1997 to Laurence Manning Academy 32–30.
College career
editMughelli attended Wake Forest University, where he was a letterman for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons football team. A fullback in college, Ovie was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection at that position. He started every game in his senior year as a Demon Deacon, coming in with the third highest rushing touchdown record in school history. He was rated the No. 1 fullback by USA Today.
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
255 lb (116 kg) |
32 in (0.81 m) |
10 in (0.25 m) |
4.32 s | 7.78 s | 31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) | |||||
| All values from NFL Combine.[1] | ||||||||||||
Baltimore Ravens
editMughelli was selected with the 134th overall pick (fourth round) of the 2003 NFL draft by the Baltimore Ravens; the choice was a compensatory pick.[2] He was the second fullback selected in Baltimore's franchise history (the first was Steve Lee in the sixth round of the 1997 NFL draft); he was also the first ever Wake Forest player selected by the team.
It was during the 2006 season that Mughelli recorded his first ever NFL touchdown. He also went all-Pro for the first time in his career.
Atlanta Falcons
editIn 2007, Mughelli signed with the Atlanta Falcons to block for running backs Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood. On March 2, Mughelli signed a 6-year, $18 million contract with a $5 million signing bonus.[3] The contract was the largest given to a fullback in NFL history at the time.
In 2010, Mughelli went all-Pro for the second time in his career, the first being in 2006, and was elected to his first ever Pro Bowl. He also recorded the fourth receiving touchdown of his career.
He was released by the Falcons on May 8, 2012.[4]
St. Louis Rams
editMughelli signed a contract with the St. Louis Rams on July 28, 2012. He was released by the team on August 31, 2012.
Post-playing career
editIn 2012, Mughelli joined WZGC "92.9 the Game" sports station in Atlanta as a host.[5]
In 2014, Mughelli joined the all-digital sports network, 120 Sports as a host. 120 Sports launched on June 25, 2014.
References
edit- ^ "Ovie Mughelli, Wake Forest, FB, 2003 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com.
- ^ "2003 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
- ^ "Ovie Mughelli : USAToday.com - Ovie Mughelli Biography from USAToday.com". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 31, 2007.
- ^ Falcons, Atlanta. "Falcons Release Mughelli". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
- ^ "The Sports Kings: Introducing Ovie Mughelli… The Radio Guy… « CBS Atlanta". Archived from the original on September 12, 2015.