Alijah McGhee
{{Short description|American gridiron football player (born 1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Canadian Football League biography
| name = Alijah McGhee
| team = Ottawa Redblacks
| image = 2024, 29, Alijah McGhee.jpg
| image_upright = 1
| caption = McGhee with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2024
| status = Active
| import = yes
| number = 29
| college = Kentucky Wesleyan (2018–2020)
Minnesota State-Mankato (2021–2022)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1999|10|13}}
| career_highlights = *Second-team All-NSIC (2022)
| CFL = alijah-mcghee/167999/
| position1 = Defensive back
| birth_place = Warner Robins, Georgia, U.S.
| Height_ft = 6
| Height_in = 2
| Weight_lbs = 195
| high_school = Northside (Warner Robins, GA)
| playing_years1 = {{CFL Year|2023}}–present
| playing_team1 = Ottawa Redblacks
}}Alijah McGhee (born October 13, 1999) is an American professional football defensive back for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL).{{Cite web |title=Alijah McGhee |url=https://www.cfl.ca/players/alijah-mcghee/ |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=CFL |language=en}} He played college football at Minnesota State-Mankato and Kentucky Wesleyan.{{Cite web |title=Alijah McGhee - Football |url=https://msumavericks.com/sports/football/roster/alijah-mcghee/11278 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=Minnesota State University - Mankato Athletics |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Alijah McGhee - Football |url=https://kwcpanthers.com/sports/football/roster/alijah-mcghee/5002 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics |language=en}}
College career
McGhee played college football for the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers from 2018 to 2020, and the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks from 2021 to 2022. He played in 25 games at Kentucky Wesleyan where he had 82 tackles and 14 passes defended. In 2021 McGhee transferred to Minnesota State-Mankato where he played in 21 games logging 80 total tackles, two interceptions, 11 passes defended, one fumble recovery and two blocked kicks.
As a senior, McGhee was named D2Football.com Defensive Player of the Week and NSIC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Bemidji State where he scored a 70-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown and a 45-yard pick-six in the first half.{{Cite web |last=Rominger |first=Mary |date=2022-09-08 |title=McGhee named Defensive Player of the Week by D2Football.com |url=https://www.keyc.com/2022/09/08/mcghee-named-defensive-player-week-by-d2footballcom/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220908035758/https://www.keyc.com/2022/09/08/mcghee-named-defensive-player-week-by-d2footballcom/ |archive-date=2022-09-08 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=keyc.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=McGhee and Sample Garner NSIC Weekly Awards - Minnesota State University - Mankato Athletics |url=https://msumavericks.com/news/2022/9/6/football-mcghee-and-sample-garner-nsic-weekly-awards.aspx?print=true |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=msumavericks.com}} He was also named to the All-NSIC Second team.{{Cite web |date=November 16, 2022 |title=2022 NSIC Football All-Conference Teams Announced |url=https://northernsun.org/news/2022/11/16/2022-nsic-football-all-conference-teams-announced.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116200843/https://northernsun.org/news/2022/11/16/2022-nsic-football-all-conference-teams-announced.aspx |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=northernsun.org |language=en}}
Professional career
= Houston Roughnecks =
McGhee was selected in the 2023 XFL rookie draft by the Houston Roughnecks but did not sign with the team.{{Cite web |last=Perry |first=Mark |date=2023-06-16 |title=XFL 2023 Rookie Draft Results: List Of Players Selected, Breakdown By Team, Positions and Colleges |url=https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-news/xfl-2023-rookie-draft-results-list-of-players-selected-breakdown-by-team-positions-and-colleges/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250323113914/https://xflnewshub.com/xfl-news/xfl-2023-rookie-draft-results-list-of-players-selected-breakdown-by-team-positions-and-colleges/ |archive-date=Mar 23, 2025 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=XFLNewsHub |language=en-US}}
= Ottawa Redblacks =
On August 24, 2023, it was announced that the Ottawa Redblacks had signed McGhee to the practice squad.{{Cite web |last=Just |first=Sam |date=2023-08-24 |title=Ottawa Redblacks Sign Future XFL Roughneck Alijah McGhee |url=https://cflnewshub.com/cfl-news/ottawa-redblacks/ottawa-redblacks-sign-future-xfl-roughneck-alijah-mcghee/ |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=CFLNewsHub |language=en-us}} On October 14, McGhee would be signed to the active roster and make his first game appearance for the Redblacks against the Toronto Argonauts and recorded one tackle.{{Cite web |title=2023-10-14 Game Tracker - TORONTO Argonauts vs. OTTAWA REDBLACKS (6380) |url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/6380/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029020858/https://www.cfl.ca/games/6380/ |archive-date=Oct 29, 2023 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=CFL |language=en}} In his next game, the final game of the season against Toronto, he finished with five tackles, one forced fumble and fumble recovery.{{Cite web |title=2023-10-28 Game Tracker - OTTAWA REDBLACKS vs. TORONTO Argonauts (6386) |url=https://www.cfl.ca/games/6386/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029140020/https://www.cfl.ca/games/6386/ |archive-date=Oct 29, 2023 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=CFL |language=en}}
McGhee played in 12 games in the 2024 season, starting in all. He began the season on the six-game IR list due to a foot injury.{{Cite web |date=Jun 10, 2024 |title=BACK TO BALTIMORE: Redblacks re-sign veteran corner to help injury-depleted secondary |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/ottawa-redblacks/back-to-baltimore-redblacks-re-sign-veteran-corner-to-help-injury-depleted-secondary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613044156/https://ottawacitizen.com/ottawa-redblacks/back-to-baltimore-redblacks-re-sign-veteran-corner-to-help-injury-depleted-secondary |archive-date=Jun 13, 2024 |access-date=May 31, 2025 |website=Ottawa Citizen}} McGhee finished the season with 44 tackles, three interceptions and one forced fumble.
On January 21, 2025, it was announced that McGhee had re-signed to the Redblacks on a one-year contract.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2025-01-21 |title=Ottawa Redblacks re-sign DB Alijah McGhee |url=https://3downnation.com/2025/01/21/ottawa-redblacks-re-sign-db-alijah-mcghee/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322063125/https://3downnation.com/2025/01/21/ottawa-redblacks-re-sign-db-alijah-mcghee/ |archive-date=2025-03-22 |access-date=2025-05-31 |website=3DownNation |language=en-US}}
References
{{reflist|}}
External links
{{Ottawa Redblacks roster navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, Alijah}}
Category:Ottawa Redblacks players
Category:Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football players
Category:Minnesota State Mavericks football players
Category:Canadian football defensive backs
Category:American football defensive backs
Category:Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
Category:Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state)