Mccrary Spins Historic Yarn Hawk Lineman’s Legacy Is No Tall Tale

Michael McCrary’s motor never stops. It’s his steering that got him in trouble.

Like the Tasmanian Devil, McCrary furiously spun his NFL career in circles for three years. Seattle Seahawks defensive line coach Tom Brasher played him because of his all-out effort. He benched him because he made no effort to follow the team’s defensive scheme.

“Sometimes he was going in the wrong direction when he went 100 miles an hour,” Seahawks coach Dennis Erickson said. “He might end up in the stands instead of making the play.”

So it brought a smile to the faces of every Seahawk last Sunday when McCrary made The Play of this decade, his block, recovery and option toss of a Houston Oilers field goal that gave the Seahawks their most improbable victory of the season. Suddenly, Mike McCrary, the locker room story-teller, became a significant part of Seahawks history.

Had they not seen it up close, Seahawks players would never have believed this one. They’ve heard too many tall tales from McCrary during his four seasons with the Seahawks.

“Yeah, but my stories are true,” McCrary said. “A lot of times, my teammates blow them out of proportion. They add things to them, which makes it seem unrealistic.”

Seahawks defensive linemen have listened to McCrary tell about a 300-pound dog he swears exists. The linemen say McCrary wondered what would be the best way to stop the dog if it was biting into your arm - pouring hot water over its head or using a crow bar. McCrary eventually concluded it would be prudent to do both.

Defensive tackle Sam Adams likes McCrary’s thoughts on Elvis Presley.

“He says Elvis is frozen in a mountain somewhere, and they’re going to melt him down when the economy gets better,” Adams said.

Defensive end Mike Sinclair heard McCrary’s tale about the medical journal report about a guy that took iron pills and rusted from the inside out. “He believes that stuff,” Sinclair said.

Stories about his personal experiences captivate them, too. Some friends of his, linemen remembered McCrary telling them, tapped their computer into a government air traffic system and within minutes, helicopters were flying over their location until they clicked off the computer.

McCrary tells these stories with the relentlessness he rushes the quarterback. As a 3-year-old, McCrary was part of a landmark Supreme Court decision in which minorities earned the right to attend private schools.

This might not be as monumental, but McCrary figured out a way to watch a fuzzy cable television picture when he was a student at Wake Forest.

“My room was right next to a satellite dish with rays bouncing off the dish,” McCrary said. “With a trash can lid, tin foil and a whole bunch of wire, I was able to get some of the signal off the dish. My roommates laughed at me when I told them what I was doing. The next thing you know we got free cable for a month.”

McCrary’s Seahawks career was as fuzzy as his television reception for three seasons. Brasher called him the player with the “best motor” he ever coached. No player topped McCrary for intensity, hard work and pursuit.

And no Seahawk made more mental mistakes during his first three years. A self-made player, McCrary turned himself from a 228-pound, seventh-round choice to a 262-pound defensive end after his rookie season. Through constant lifting, his 435-pound bench press made him one of the strongest Seahawks.

It also made him the most hard-headed.

“At first, all this stuff we’d talk about in meetings, it was like ‘Why was this guy talking about all this stuff,”’ Brasher said. “There were still some games left last season and he had done some things on the field that were kinda irresponsible and I just finally got tired of it. All of a sudden he wasn’t playing much.”

Brasher and McCrary had a long talk. The coach told him to study the game tapes and realize he’s part of a team. In practices, he also told him to stop rushing so hard and hitting his own quarterback.

“I told him he was going to get me fired around here if he keeps messing with the quarterback,” Brasher said. “I said, ‘If you keep doing that, one of the two of us is going to get fired and I’m going to make sure it’s you.”’

Being fired from football was the last thing McCrary wanted. The game is a passion to him. He loves it. He’s played it since he was 7 years old. His stomach churns so much with the desire to play that he’s constantly throwing up. He doesn’t mind, though. It’s part of his game.

Thoughts of being cut bothered him throughout the off-season.

“I learned a whole lot last year,” McCrary said. “All I could think about in the offseason was things I had to get done and how I got in that situation. The main thing I was going to do was show these coaches I was willing to do what they were telling me to do. There were times I couldn’t sleep because I was so emotionally drained. It was the worst time of my life.”

McCrary watched tapes. He lifted harder. He ran harder. He practiced harder. He made fewer mental mistakes. A knee problem to starter Antonio Edwards early in the season gave him an opening for playing time. McCrary relentlessly shot through that opening and has been putting up incredible numbers.

In the past three games, for example, he’s had 19 tackles. Right end is his job to lose. The tallest tale of all was that this one-time 228-pound seventh-rounder could be an NFL starter.

Notes

Wide receiver Brian Blades wants to play next week against the Detroit Lions, even though he suffered a third-degree shoulder separation that will sideline him for up to six weeks… . Halfback Chris Warren missed his second day of practice because of an ankle injury and might not start.