Michael Clayton

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"Michael Clayton" is also the name of a 2006 film by George Clooney.

Michael Clayton

Date of birth	October 13, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Position(s)	Wide receiver
College	LSU
NFL Draft	2004 / Round 1/ Pick 15
Statistics	CBS.com
Team(s)
2004-present	Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Michael Rashard Clayton (born October 13, 1982 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana) was drafted with the 15th selection of the 2004 NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a wide receiver.

[edit] College

Clayton played college football at LSU where he was part of the NCAA champion LSU Tigers. During his three years with LSU, he caught 182 passes for 2,582 yards and 21 TDs for the Tigers, and ended his LSU career with the record for career TD receptions with 21. The record was later broken by Dwayne Bowe in a game against Tennessee on November 4, 2006. He finished second in school history in receptions with 182, just one shy of tying Wendell Davis's record of 183. He is ranked fourth in career receiving yards with 2,582 and seventh in career 100-yard games, and is the only player in LSU history to have at least 700 yards receiving in three straight seasons.

[edit] NFL

After a promising 2004 rookie campaign with Tampa Bay, where he led all NFL rookies and the Buccaneers with 80 receptions for 1193 yards, and his team with 7 touchdowns, Clayton had a relatively disappointing season in 2005. With knee surgery in the off-season and a season riddled with small mistakes on the field, he finished up with just 32 receptions for a total of 372 yards and no touchdowns. He was forced to sit out the final game of the regular season against the New Orleans Saints with a turf toe injury, and also sat out the Buccaneers playoff match up against the Washington Redskins. His second season was very disappointing and inconsistent, but Clayton and his fans expect a big improvement in 2006.

The start to the 2006 season showed that Clayton returned to his healthy past of 2004. Clayton looked good with 3 receptions and 34 yards despite the Buccaneers offensive struggles on September 10th in a 27-0 loss to the Ravens.

Returning back to his 2004 form, Michael Clayton caught 6 passes for 55 yards and a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals on October 15, 2006. His touchdown, thrown by Bruce Gradkowski, came with seconds left and gave the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the go ahead lead for their first win of the 2006 season.

Unfortunately, follwing an undisclosed injury, the Buccaneers placed him on injured reserve, ending his season with four games remaining.