Germany: Braunschweig New Yorker Lions re-sign top backfield – David McCants & Chris McClendon

AFI | American Football | 12/17/2018

Graphic: Igor Lazarevic

Running backs David McCants and Chris McClendon are returning to give the Braunschweig New York Lions arguably the most formidable backfield in Europe.

In 2018, the duo combined to give Braunschweig the top rushing attack in Germany, helping the team to an average of 169 yards rushing a game.

The Lions led the league with 2,709 yards rushing.

The 5’8″ 192 lb McCants racked up 787 yards in 16 games while McClendon rushed for 677 yards in seven games after returning from injury.

McCants, the veteran, has now gained almost 6,300 yards and scored 85 touchdowns in the past five years playing for New Yorker.

The 6′, 225 lb McClendon, a native of Rixey, Arkansas, led the league in rushing two years in a row while with the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes amassing a total of over 4,000 yards in 2016 and 2017.

McCants made the rounds in Germany before signing with the Lions in 2013.

After his college days at the University of North Alabama, the Berlin Adler first brought McCantsto the German Football League (GFL) in 2009, where he won his first German Bowl.

In 2010 he transferred to the Berlin Rebels and then in 2011 to the Hamburg Blue Devils in the GFL 2 where he was instrumental in the resurgence of the Blue Devils in the GFL. McCants wore the jersey of the Dusseldorf Panther in 2012.

In 2013, Head Coach Troy Tomlin signed the now veteran McCants to the New Yorker Lions, where he is now entering its sixth season in Braunschwieg.

McClendon was the runaway rushing leader in the German Football League in 2017 while playing for the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes, rushing for 2,312 yards on 297 carries (7.8 yards per carry) and 21 touchdowns. He also caught 18 passes for 198 yards and four touchdowns. He was a key reason for the Hurricanes success. In one game against the Cologne Crocodiles two years ago, McClendon rushed for six touchdowns.

McClendon joined the Hurricanes in 2016 and made an immediate impact gaining 1,700 yards and averaging 113 yards a game. At college, he played for Oklahoma Panhandle State University (NCAA Div. II). McClendon topped off his college career with 1,254 rushing yards on 171 carries for 15 touchdowns; he also added 146 receiving yards and 134 punt return yards for an all-purpose total of over 1,500 offensive yards for the 2015 season.