TMZ Sports · Aug 31, 2021
Grateful For 2nd Chance At Career
Malik McDowell -- a 2nd round pick out of Michigan State in 2017 -- is gunning to make the most of his second chance at being an NFL player ... saying he's in the "best place" he's been in a long time.
Of course, 25-year-old McDowell has yet to play a down in a REAL NFL football game -- he suffered an injury in an ATV accident just weeks before his rookie training camp with the Seattle Seahawks ... and was arrested 5 times between 2017 and 2019.
He was released by the 'Hawks in March 2019 ... and was sentenced to 11 months in jail later that year. Needless to say, most people expected McDowell's career all but over.