McCrary arrives at right time

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Fred McCrary was stuck at home and couldn’t figure out why. Not that it was a bad life: workouts in the morning, golf in the afternoons, plenty of time to spend with his wife and their young son.

But McCrary wanted more. He wanted another shot at the NFL.

“I feel like I’m one of the top fullbacks in the league,” he said. “I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ I knew I should be playing.”

Finally, with three weeks to go in a season that had nearly passed him by, McCrary got a call from the Atlanta Falcons. One play into the first game with his new team, he became a starter. Now, he’s one victory away from the Super Bowl.

The Falcons meet the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

“It’s crazy how it all worked out,” McCrary said.

He knows his role. McCrary has never carried the ball more than eight times in a season. In all, he’s run for a mere 31 yards in his eight-year career – less than half of what Warrick Dunn (the Falcons’ leading rusher) gained per game this season.

But McCrary is a ferocious blocker, willing to throw his fireplug of a body (6-foot, 247 pounds) into any defender that gets in the way. He also has decent hands, slipping out of the backfield to make a catch every now and then.

McCrary has certainly won over the Falcons with his hard work and quick grasp of the offense. He also has given his new teammates an idea of what they’re playing for, showing off the Super Bowl ring he got in New England last season.

“When Fred stepped in, things didn’t stop,” said T.J. Duckett, who shares time with Dunn in the backfield. “If anything, he makes us better.”

McCrary has been through plenty of ups and downs in his career.

He started four games for Philadelphia as a rookie in 1995, but he didn’t play at all the following year after being released in the final cut. There was a seven-game stint with New Orleans in 1997, but McCrary missed another entire season after getting cut again. He earned a living that year as a prison guard.

In 1999, McCrary landed his steadiest job yet in San Diego. He started nearly every game for the Chargers over the next four seasons, opening holes for LaDainian Tomlinson and catching a career-high three touchdown passes in 2002.

That didn’t stop him from getting cut again.

“They wanted to go in a different direction,” McCrary remembered. “I guess everything happens for a reason.”

He wound up in New England, getting cut again, then was re-signed by the Patriots. McCrary played in six games before a season-ending leg injury. He wound up at the Super Bowl, but only as a spectator. He got a ring, but didn’t really feel as though he earned it.

“You feel like an outcast, almost,” McCrary said. “I had always prided myself on never being hurt. It was tough.”