TULSA WORLD HOMEPAGE | Wednesday, February 10, 2010 | WIRELESS
CONTACT US | SUBSCRIBER SERVICES | SIGN IN SIGN OUT | MY PROFILE PAGE | MY ACCOUNT

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on RSS
Sports Extra!
Follow us on ...
OU | OSU | TU | ORU | HIGH SCHOOLS | COLLEGE FOOTBALL | COLLEGE BASKETBALL | NFL | FANTASY | OUTDOORS | GOLF | PROS | ALL




SPORTS EXTRA BLOGS
    Sports Editor
Mike Strain
Sports Columnist
Dave Sittler
The Picker
Entertaining & Infuriating

LOCAL PROS

ALL SPORTS

PHOTOS & VIDEOS

OUTDOORS

FIND A STORY

EMAIL ALERTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

RSS FEEDS

CONTACT US
BUY PHOTOS & PAGES

TULSA WORLD

ADVERTISE ON SPORTS EXTRA



Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark

OU football: The real McCoy
OU defensive tackle always strives for perfection

Tulsa World file / Photo illustration

 
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer
Published: 11/25/2009  2:22 AM
Last Modified: 11/25/2009  12:02 PM
OU blog: Before last saturday’s game at Texas Tech, there was a thought OU would auction off the throwback uniforms the team wore.


NORMAN — With the possible exception of Zac Robinson, there isn't anyone who Gerald McCoy would like to spend more time with this weekend than his daughter, Nevaeh.

McCoy, Oklahoma's All-America defensive lineman, would like to give Robinson — or whoever plays QB for Oklahoma State on Saturday — a whole lot of hugs when the Bedlam rivals meet at Owen Field.

But when he's done chasing Robinson and the Sooners' dismal 2009 season has come to a merciful end, OU's gentle giant wants to finally snuggle with his 3-year-old pride and joy.

"She's my whole world, man," McCoy says.

Alas, the time demands on a typical major college football player don't allow for much family time. Then again, McCoy is hardly typical.

For example, when he left practice on Monday night, he quickly showered, dressed and ran off to the Monday night meeting of Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He is the OU chapter's president, after all, two years running.

He arrived for interviews at the Stadium Club on Tuesday morning dragging and bleary-eyed.

"Tired," he said.

But he won't quit.

"One of my teammates told me yesterday, he said, 'G, you don't know much you influence people by what you do. You don't know who you're influencing and how much you mean to everybody,' " McCoy said. "It was just so random. I just do it because I feel I'm supposed to. I feel it's a calling from God."

Against OSU, McCoy hopes he can finally play a perfect game. He'll never reach that goal, of course, but he'll never stop trying. It's the same thing off the field.

Just like in football, everyone around him is enamored by how great he is. But McCoy looks at his daily walk — just like he watches himself play on film — and he sees areas he can improve.

"I'm not perfect. No way, man," he said. "I do wrong. If you knew me, if you were around me, you would see I do a lot wrong.

"I just want to try to please God."

God and everybody else. When he's not working at football, where most suspect he'll be one of the top players picked in next April's NFL draft, McCoy buries himself in campus activities like FCA, or spends time with his father, Gerald Keith McCoy Sr., or spends time reading to schoolchildren, or stops to sign autographs. He never says no to an autograph.

"I can honestly say, GK, I've never seen or heard him do anything wrong," said teammate Brian Simmons. "I mean, every man has his flaws. But as far as being a good person, he's a wonderful guy."

Before a recent game, McCoy text-messaged a Bible verse to quarterback Landry Jones.

"It really encouraged me," Jones said. "He's a great man of God."

McCoy is a rarity, a superstar athlete who refuses to be treated as such. Jamie Fox, a former OU softball player and FCA huddle leader who now lives in Tulsa studying physical therapy, said McCoy is the ultimate people person.

"He's gonna make you feel welcome," she said. "He doesn't want you to feel left out. he's gonna make you feel like you're his best friend, because he cares for people.

"He doesn't have to work at it. That's what makes him so genuine. He doesn't have to work at caring for people. He's compassionate and caring."

Kent Bowles is the FCA director in Norman and OU, and he frequently takes McCoy to speaking engagements at FCA events or local churches. He said when the 6-foot-4, 305-pound McCoy first walks in the room, young people are intimidated by his size or his celebrity status. But that never lasts more than a few minutes.

"If there are 50 kids in a room, he immediately embraces them, comes up to them, smiles, he's laughing, he's full of energy," Bowles said. "I think the thing that kind of grabs kids is, this guy is different. He's not a guy that walks in the room and thinks, 'OK, I'm somebody. I'm here. I've arrived.' Gerald just walks in and sits right in the middle of them and acts like one of them.

"Gerald does not feel like he's better than them because he's a bright college football star, that he's got something over them. He comes at them right on their level."

Tabitha Brown is an OU grad student now and doesn't attend FCA like she did as an undergrad. But her friendship with McCoy will endure, she said, because of his gentle touch when her father died earlier this year. McCoy lost his own mother suddenly in 2007.

"It was my duty to be there for her, call and check on her," he said. "Because I knew what it was like."

Said Brown, "He had known exactly what I was going through. To have somebody there that's gone through it, it's just very comforting."

Brown was on the FCA leadership team when McCoy was a freshman. She was instantly impressed by his inner strength and his open faith.

"Without a doubt, he is in it," she said. "He loves the Lord and he loves speaking about Him and he loves going to schools and sharing a little bit about what he's gotten from it with other people. If anything, I think if one person can see Christ through him, then he feels he's done his job."

McCoy said his own testimonials change depending on the audience. For instance, if he's speaking to a group of high schoolers, he'll tell them about his daughter, who was conceived when he was a senior at Oklahoma City's Southeast High School, and the conflict he has dealt with because of his own weakness.

"I can relate to them, because I was there," McCoy said. "The temptations that exist, I was there."

Bowles acknowledged that Nevaeh — "Heaven" spelled backwards — can be a sensitive subject with some, particularly when McCoy is witnessing to young people from the pulpit. But having a child out of wedlock doesn't diminish McCoy's message.

"I think he doesn't want to set the tone that being a father without being married is right," Bowles said, "but he also doesn't want to set the tone that God doesn't take our mistakes sometimes and make them right. So he's careful when and where he shares about that. He doesn't share that with every group. It's got to be a pretty mature group of kids that he can talk about some of those things. But he does take it very seriously."

He takes fatherhood seriously, too.

"Oh," said Brown, "he loves his daughter."



GERALD McCOY PROFILE

Ht.: 6-foot-4

Wt.: 305 pounds

Position: Defensive tackle

Hometown: Oklahoma City (Southeast High School)

Class: Junior

  • Two-time team captain


  • Holds OU record for consecutive starts by a defensive lineman (38)


  • Semifinalist for Ronnie Lott IMPACT Award (for football, community service and citizenship)


  • Projected top-five pick in 2010 NFL draft


  • Will be 6 hours from graduating after the current semester


  • Consensus All-America in 2008


  • Two-time president of OU’s FCA chapter


John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com
By JOHN E. HOOVER World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Newspaper View      Print this story Print      Email this story Email     
Share      Bookmark Bookmark


COMMENTS 
      Add your comment Show: Most Recent Comment First

12 comments have been made for this team so far. Tell us what you think below!
Report Comment Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you.  -- Web Editor Jason Collington
 

 
Report Comment
Julz, (11/25/2009 7:36:02 AM)
He sounds like a very wonderful young man and a great influence. We could use more people with his spirit and love for life and God. He will be missed but there's no doubt he will do great in the future!
Report Comment
Carlos, Tulsa (11/25/2009 8:06:53 AM)
Sounds like a great guy.
Report Comment
DieHardSoonerFan82, Beggs (11/25/2009 8:18:10 AM)
Wow what a great guy.
Report Comment
AC Poke Fan, Tulsa (11/25/2009 9:38:30 AM)
What a good guy. A rare commodity. A good influence for others.
Report Comment
Arbythree, Tulsa (11/25/2009 9:43:23 AM)
Gerald is a class act!

BOOMER SOONER and I hope you get to hug Robinson or whomever, all you choose to, on Saturday.
Report Comment
get to the CHOPPA! , Broken Arrow (11/25/2009 10:32:48 AM)
McCoy is a great influence and has remained positive throughout this season. Plus, he is a funny guy at his press conferences. NFL first rounder who will perform well on Sundays.
Report Comment
PIRANA, Tulsa (11/25/2009 12:06:46 PM)
Sounds like a great leader and role model! Hope the closest he gets to Zac is when he shakes his hand!!! Go Pokes!
Report Comment
ramcowboy21, Stillwater (11/25/2009 1:33:04 PM)
sounds like he's going to get dominated by OSU's offensive line!
Report Comment
Ryanoceros, Tulsa (11/25/2009 2:03:22 PM)
Sounds like a class act, I will be sure to watch him Saturday...while wearing my ORANGE!
Report Comment
Bullnose, Jay (11/25/2009 5:56:09 PM)
Good thing he is able to have a relationship with his girl, it does not always turn out that good. Happy for him.
Report Comment
im4osu, Broken Arrow (11/25/2009 6:54:57 PM)
Seems to be a great role model. Keep up the great work.
Report Comment
theoldschool, (11/25/2009 7:16:49 PM)
Great story, sounds like a class act. Not surprising because he conveys that when he plays. It isn't hard to miss.
GOPOKES!!!
 

 
Add Your Comment 
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.

 
Post Your Comment
 



Home | About Tulsa World | Advertise With Us | Privacy | Usage Agreement | FAQ and Help | Contact Us | Today's Headlines
Copyright © 2010, World Publishing Co. All rights reserved.