THE REAL McCOY
Lott Profiles 0902; For Use as Desired
Gerald McCoy, the All-American tornado who plays defensive tackle for Oklahoma, is a bona fide candidate for a flock of post-season awards this fall, including The Lott Trophy.
He’s also got a wonderful chance to be a high draft choice in the National Football League where they pay 300-pounders extremely well.
But McCoy’s goals are loftier than trophies and paychecks.
He’d like to have his own community center.
“The Gerald Keith McCoy Community Center.”
“I think I get it from my father,” McCoy told John Hoover of the Tulsa World last August. “When I was a kid, we’d go to the community center and all the kids would be like, ‘Hey, G.K. (my dad). And he’d go inside and get all my friends and take us to McDonald’s. If he sees someone in need, he’ll do whatever he can and give all he can to help. That’s just him, and I just grew up around it.”
This passion to reach out landed McCoy on the American Football Coaches Good Works Team last year. He serves as president of Oklahoma’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes and has made numerous public speaking appearances at area schools. McCoy has also served as the freshman liaison for Bridge Builders, an organization that serves as an African-American Student-Athlete Network.
McCoy is a rare breed in many ways. Besides his football prowess that earned him All-American accolades and Big-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors, he was elected team captain last year as a sophomore (along with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford).
It is this combination of athletic achievement and off-field involvement that landed McCoy on the Lott Trophy Watch List. The Lott Trophy goes to the top college defensive player who has the biggest IMPACT* on his team both on and off the field.
(*IMPACT stands for Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity).
McCoy arrived in Norman (from Oklahoma City) with huge credentials. He was the National High School Defensive Player of the Year.
Before he reported for spring practice, however, his mother, Patricia McCoy, died of heart failure. Playing with a heavy heart, McCoy still managed to become a freshman All-American and was named the Big-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year.
Said fellow defensive tackle Cory Bennett: “The situation with his Mom, that can alter people’s lives altogether, but the way he bounced back from that. One thing that benefits him, that benefits all of us, is that he’s a spiritual leader. His walk, his faith, it’s something that’s unbreakable. It’s because of guys like Gerald that we’re more than a team, we’re a family.”
His mother was quoted in 2006 as saying: “We always encouraged our children to be leaders, not followers. You don’t fall in behind people, you make people follow you.”
Candidates for the Lott Trophy must be as much a part of their school community as they are of their football team. On every count, McCoy is the real deal.
“He’s fantastic on the field and a fantastic faith role model off the field,” says Kent Bowles, the university’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes representative. “His impact has been felt in a big way.”
Says another teammate, Alan Davis: “He has a presence. When he walks in the room, you know he’s there. He has a great personality and everyone on the team likes him.”
Adds linebacker Ryan Reynolds: “What makes him such an effective leader is that he cares about people. He never let the hype change his personality or how he treated people, even when he became an All-American.”
McCoy earned that All-American recognition by anchoring the Sooner defense in ’08, one that figures to be even better, along with their leader, in ’09.
“He has a chance to be GREAT,” says Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops. “He has that kind of ability, he has that kind of work ethic, he has that kind of attitude.”
“He explodes off the ball,” says OU Defensive Coordinator Brent Venables. “If you ask him, he’ll give you 20 things that he needs to be better at and can be better at. That’s the trait that really good players have. Guys like Gerald are never satisfied.”
Not until he gets that community center.
Contact: Pete Donovan
For more information on The Lott Trophy, go to: http://www.lotttrophy.com