Markael James (Madden)

Markael Isaiah James (born April 13, 1978 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American football wide receiver for The New England Patriots of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round (22nd pick). He played college football at Washington. Markael is wisely known for his speed and catching and made him a superstar. Markael was involved in the Ramos-James rivalry for the last 12 years.

Early Life

Markael was born and raise in Tacoma, Washington. He played cornerback and running back before becoming a wide receiver. When James was little, he did a little track & field for a while.

High School

James attend Washington High School, where he met Albert Ramos. Ramos and James were starters for the varsity team, while Markael is a true FreshMen. While James and Ramos are the same team, they led Washington to a 2A Playoff bid against the FIFE Trojans, but loss 37-34 in overtime. After Ramos committed to Washington State, Markael was the starter, at his Senior year, he recorded 56 receptions, 1,093 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. For his total at Washington, he had 179 receptions, 4,965 and 25 touchdowns. Several schools like Washington, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama offered James a scholarship, James committed to Washington.

College career

With Albert Ramos leaving Washington to play for Wash St., James committed to Washington. As a freshmen, he was red shirt, but refused as he wanted to play fully. James wore #13 because of his birthdate (4/13). James begin his college career against Oregon, James recorded 14 catches with two touchdowns and 109 receiving yards. On the floowing week, he was award player of the week for the Pac-10. The Huskies go on the road and face the USC Trojans, loss to the Trojans 53-10, James recorded 59 receiving yards, no touchdowns and 4 receptions.

Professional career

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle selected James in the first round (22nd pick) and was signed to an six year deal, worth $15.6 million and a $6.09 million signing bonus. In 1999, Markael started in his first game against the Detroit Lions and James caught the ball eight times and had 139 receiving yards with a touchdown. After the loss against Detroit, the Seahawks went up against the Chicago Bears; James caught the ball for five times, ran 108 receiving yards and one touchdown.

New England Patriots

In April 30, 2005, New England Patriots signed James, Marcus Robertson, Micheal Jordan and Thomas Harris for a six year deal worth $25.8 million. ESPN named the four new Giants players The Big Four and they named the four new Patriots players The Dominate Four. While New England Patriots signed James, he would be fighting to a starter position against Thomas Harris. At July 30, 2005, Markael was named starter before the 2005 preseason. During the preseason, Markael James and the Dominate Four made their Patriots debut, Markael finished the 2005 preseason with 25 receptions, 502 receiving yards and ten touchdowns.
====Super Bowl XLII==== In Super Bowl XLII, the New England Patriots would face the New York Giants. The Patriots had a 18-0 streak credit for Marcus Robertson and Markael James. For the first time, the Dominate Four and Big Four would face each other for three times in the same year (preseason, regular season and post season).
Markael caught the first catch of the game after the Super Bowl record by the Giants, James ran for six yards, three plays later, he caught four more catches and recorded 15 more yards. After the third quarter, James recorded six receptions, 25 receiving yards and no touchdowns.

Arizona Cardinals

After the Dominate Four and Big Four split-up, Arizona Cardinals was intersenting in Antony Garner, Thomas Harris, LeTroy Johnson and Markael James. At the month of March, Arizona can not matches with Garner, Harris and Johnson's demands, so Arizona signed Markael James to a $45.5 million contract for three years with a $15.12 million signing bonus. At training camp, the wide receiver battle spot was between Markael James and Larry Fitzgerald. ESPN question Markael James ability to make it to the Super Bowl without the Dominate Four, but after the Seattle Seahawks game, Markael made comments of making it to the Super Bowl and doing without the Dominate Four.
A week later, Markael improved himself by catching the ball 11 times, ran a 175 receiving yards and two touchdowns. At the Arizona Cardinals-New York Giants game, it would predict to be the game of the year between Markael James and his former teammate, Albert Ramos. Comparing Ramos and James, Ramos had ten catches, 100 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while James had 15 catches, 189 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Markael had a big game against the Seahawks, his former team from 1999-2005, James caught the ball nine times with 139 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Super Bowl XLIII

After the Arizona Cardinals won the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles, James led the Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII. Two weeks before Super Bowl XLIII started, former New York Giants running back LeTroy Johnson led the Steelers to a Super Bowl, since he won Super Bowl XLII against the New England Patriots. At Super Bowl XLIII, James caught the ball six times with 59 yards and no touchdowns. After the game, reporters asked Markael if he's returning to Arizona in the 2009 season, James responded ''"I really don't know, it's quite difficult coming back to a team".

New England Patriots

After losing to the Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII, Markael returned to Arizona for the preseason, but didn't make demands to make it to the 2009 starting lineup, so the Arizona Cardinals released Markael in August 8. When the season started, several teams wanted James to play including New York Jets, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders, but Markael decined the offers and the New England Patriots signed James to a six year contract worth $60 million. James gotten the starting job for the Patriots.

Dominate Four controversy

After James made comments AbOUT the Dominate Four, Markael received a phone call from Albert Ramos that "don't beat yourself up, it's the past, think the future". According to ESPN, Micheal Jordan and the Cincinnati Bengals try to negoinate to release Jordan from the team, but Jordan is still under a three year contract. When Jordan try to be release from the Bengals, Thomas Harris try to get release from the Chicago Bears, but fail to be release, which it cause a controversy on being release and sign with the New England Patriots.

Career statistics

Personal Life

James resides in Tacoma, Washington. He's married to Jasmine Jackson, former Washington Huskies cheerleader, married since 2003 and has two children, Edward "Eddie" James, III (born 2000). and Chanel James (born 2004).