Earsell Mackbee

Who was Earsell Mackbee?

Earsell Mackbee was a professional American football player.

Mackbee was born in Brookhaven, Mississippi and graduated from Utah State University, where he starred as a cornerback. He played five seasons in the National Football League, all with the Minnesota Vikings. Mackbee was a starting cornerback on the Vikings’ Purple People Eaters defense and made 15 interceptions in his career. He started in Super Bowl IV, but injured himself when he missed a tackle on Kansas City Chiefs' receiver Otis Taylor.

After retiring from the NFL in 1971, Mackbee became an entrepreneur, opening a chain of restaurants and other business ventures. He also worked as a counselor and advisor for City Inc, a Minneapolis outreach and educational program.

In 2005, Mackbee suffered a stroke and was thereafter in a hospice. On October 16, 2009, his condition deteriorated, and his family rallied to fulfill his last wish of returning him to his roots in Vallejo, California. Ten days after donations allowed his family to charter a plane to fly him back to Vallejo, Mackbee died on November 9, 2009. He is interred at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery.