Todd McClure

Sport: Football

Induction Year: 2026

University: LSU

Following four seasons with LSU in which he started 37 games at center and was a two-time All-SEC pick (1997, 1998) to go with a first-team All-America honor from the American Football Coaches Association as a senior, Baton Rouge native Todd McClure embarked on an equally-remarkable 14-year NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons.

While it didn’t start well in 1999 when he tore his ACL in training camp after being drafted in the seventh round (No. 237 overall), the 6-foot-2, 290-pounder made up for it over the next 13 seasons. Taking over as the starting center midway through the 2000 season, McClure was a model of consistency and reliability over the next 10 seasons — playing in 159 of a possible 160 games before missing the first two games of the 2011 campaign. He rebounded to play all 16 games in 2012, then retired after playing 198 regular-season games with 195 starts. Amazingly, he was called for just 22 penalties in 198 games — averaging 1.7 per year. He had no penalties in 7 games in 2000 and none in 13 games in 2011.

Nicknamed “Mud Duck,” McClure also played in nine playoff games, pushing his total to 207 for his career. He helped Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame running back Warrick Dunn to three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons (2004-06) when Dunn totaled 3,662 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns. When he retired, Falcons owner Arthur Blank promised to recognize McClure as one of the franchise’s greatest linemen with a spot in the team’s Ring of Honor — which finally happened on Oct. 30, 2022.

McClure was a three-sport star (All-State in football and baseball, and a basketball standout on a state finals team) at Central High in Baton Rouge…Born 2-16-1967 in Baton Rouge.