Max Yates (2019) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Max Yates

Induction:
2019
Class:
2001

When opposing ball carriers took a big hit against Marshall between 1998-2001 there was a good chance that Max Yates was delivering the blow. The linebacker from Newport News, Va., logged double-digit tackles in the first three games of his freshman season - including 10 in Marshall’s win at South Carolina - and never slowed down. Despite missing time with injuries, Yates received second-team honors from the Mid-American Conference as a sophomore in 1999 and was named first-team All-MAC as a junior and then the league’s Defensive Player of the Year as a senior. He helped Marshall to three MAC championships and four consecutive bowl victories, three in the Motor City Bowl and then in the GMAC Bowl over East Carolina in the final game of his career. Yates finished his career with 383 tackles, at the time the ninth-most in school history, with 27 tackles for loss, eight quarterback sacks and two interceptions. Marshall logged a record of 44-8 during Yates’ career, after which he spent time with the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings. Yates was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.