11 Days Till Arizona Football: Looking Back at Former Top UA CB

Originally posted on Arizona Wildcats on SI
By Ari Koslow | Last updated Aug 19, 2025 3:00 PM ET

The countdown continues as we are now officially 11 days away from the season opener for Arizona against Hawaii. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be taking a look back at some of the top players in Arizona football history by jersey number as we inch closer towards the start of the season for the Wildcats.

We continue with former Arizona CB Chris McAlister who played with the Wildcats from 1996-98

McAlister played a pivotal role as both a defensive back and return man in special teams during his three-year tenure at Arizona.

As a freshman, he recorded six interceptions with one brought back to the house for a pick-six. He also ran back 20 kicks for 526 yards and another touchdown. McAlister followed that year with another four interceptions and 336 return yards on 15 kickoff returns. In his final year in Tucson, he totaled five interceptions, 236 yards and a score on eight kick returns to go along with another touchdown and 104 return yards on five punt returns.

McAlister won the Mosi Tatupu Special Teams Player of the Year Award in 1988 as the nation's top player in the kicking game. He was also named a unanimous All-America first team selection and was an All-Pac 10 first team choice for three straight seasons during his time in Tucson. While he was playing, he became the first player in Arizona program history and just the seventh player in college football history to return a kick-off, punt and interception for touchdowns in the same season.

He was later selected No. 10 overall by the Baltimore Ravens in the 1999 NFL Draft. He recorded 49 tackles with five interceptions during his rookie season in Baltimore. In his second year, the following season, he won the Super Bowl with the Ravens in a game where he had an interception. During the season, he totaled four interceptions with one fumble recovery and 41 tackles overall.

Overall, McAlister spent the first 10 seasons of his career in Baltimore. One of his best seasons in the NFL came in 2006 when he totaled six interceptions, returning two of them for touchdowns with two fumble recoveries, 47 total tackles and three tackles for loss.

McAlister spent his final season in New Orleans with the Saints where he appeared in just two games.

Across his career in the NFL, he appeared in eight career playoff games with three interceptions and 14 total pass deflections. He was also a first-team All-Pro in 2003, a second-team All-Pro in 2004 and was named to the Pro Bowl three times across his career.

This article first appeared on Arizona Wildcats on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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