Ex-Seahawk glad for second chance

Former Seattle Seahawk and Jacksonville High School football player Clinton McDonald meets Ron Kirkland and his wife of Tuscumbia, Ala., during a visit with patients at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institute in Little Rock on Friday.
Former Seattle Seahawk and Jacksonville High School football player Clinton McDonald meets Ron Kirkland and his wife of Tuscumbia, Ala., during a visit with patients at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Institute in Little Rock on Friday.

Clinton McDonald made the most of his second opportunity with the Seattle Seahawks last season.

The Jacksonville native was a key player in the Seahawks’ run to their first Super Bowl championship last season, despite being cut by the team after training camp.

The 6-2, 297-pound defensive tackle re-signed with the Seahawks before their Week 2 game against NFC West rival San Francisco. He responded to the second chance by finishing with 5 ½ sacks, 35 tackles and 1 interception in 15 games to help Seattle become the league’s top-ranked scoring defense (14.4 points per game).

Seattle went 13-3, won the NFC West and beat New Orleans and San Francisco in the NFC playoffs on its way to routing the Denver Broncos 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII on Feb. 2 in East Rutherford, N.J. McDonald had three tackles, including one unassisted, in the Super Bowl, in which the Seahawks held the league’s top offense to one touchdown.

McDonald, 27, took advantage of his 2013 performance and signed a four-year contract worth $12 million in March with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He had made $592,000 last season in his fifth season in the NFL, but will make $3 million this season with a $500,000 roster bonus.

Not only did McDonald find himself a new team, he also got married this off season, tying the knot with Alicia Jackson at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock earlier this month.

Being cut, then going on to win a Super Bowl - all within the last year - was quite the experience for Mc-Donald, who played at Memphis and was drafted in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.

“The NFL is like a roller coaster,” McDonald said Friday during a visit at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. “You have to make sure the guardrails are down and we hold on to the ride. It’s been a blessing as well. God has allowed me to see a lot of things through the whole journey through last year. He got me prepared for things happening in my life and in the future.

“It’s been a beautiful journey. Going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is another chapter to my life.”

McDonald credited former teammates, defensive linemen Brandon Mebane, Red Bryant, Tony McDaniel, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons, for his success in the NFL.

“[They] allowed me to come out of my shell and perform,” McDonald said. “Playing with those guys allowed me to become a better player not only on the field, but off the field as well. It allowed me to mature as a young man and see the NFL in a different light.”

Last season, McDonald’s Seahawks trailed 21-0 to the then-0-7 Buccaneers on Nov. 3 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle before the Seahawks came back to win 27-24 in overtime. McDonald said the Buccaneers’ defense scared the Seahawks and their potential was one reason why he ultimately signed with them. The Buccaneers, 4-12 last season, are now led by former Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith, which is giving McDonald optimism for what lies ahead.

“They’re doing a lot of great things over there,” McDonald said. “I’m proud to be part of it and I’m excited to get started.”

This week was McDonald’s homecoming week in central Arkansas. He had his football jersey retired at Jacksonville High School on Friday and hosted a football camp Saturday.

It was his visit with the cancer patients at UAMS, though, that was the most rewarding part of McDonald’s week back home.

“It’s been amazing. It’s an eye-opening experience,” McDonald said. “Like I was telling some of the patients, I just play football. You all are fighting for your lives. That’s the most important part, to come out here and provide some spark of joy or allow somebody to smile.

“By the grace of God, it’s a great experience and a great feeling knowing you come in here and you have sympathy in your heart for the people that are here. But they’re the ones cracking jokes and the ones laughing. They’re lightening up the mood and makes you feel really good.”

Lenny Washington, 54, of Tampa, Fla., said he appreciated McDonald visiting him and his wife Elaine, 57, who is being treated for multiple myeloma.

“It demonstrates their humility,” Washington said. “It’s their way of giving back to the community, whether it’s here or back in Tampa, especially if it’s seeing the kids. I think that’s extremely important because to them, it’s uplifting.

“It was nice to meet this young man now knowing he’s playing for Tampa Bay instead of Seattle, but what I’m more impressed with is taking personal time out and visiting with people in the cancer ward. That’s awesome.”

Jacksonville is now home to two Super Bowl champions, McDonald and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Hampton, who was part of the 1985 Chicago Bears championship team. McDonald, a 2004 Jacksonville graduate, said he heard stories growing up about Hampton’s days with the Red Devils and Arkansas Razorbacks in the 1970s.

Now McDonald is not only linked to Hampton with the Red Devils, he’s also a champion as well.

“Just to be part of a Super Bowl championship team that’s in the same caliber as the ’85 Bears, as far as the defense is concerned, is an honor in itself,” McDonald said.

McDonald hopes that winning the Super Bowl can help people outside of Arkansas look differently at football in the state in the future.

“A lot of people sleep on Arkansas when it comes to sports,” McDonald said. “We have a lot of players, going back to Sidney Moncrief, Joe Johnson, Darren McFadden. You have a lot of players making an impact in the NBA and even a lot of baseball players come out of this area. People sleep in Arkansas, but this is where I call home. I take pride in my state.”

At a glance

CLINTON MCDONALD

AGE 27 TEAM Tampa Bay Buccaneers HEIGHT 6-2 WEIGHT 297 pounds

NFL EXPERIENCE Sixth season in 2014

HOMETOWN Jacksonville HIGH SCHOOL Jacksonville COLLEGE Memphis

HIGHLIGHTS Had career high 5½ sacks in 2013 for the Seattle Seahawks, who defeated the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl in February. … Signed a four-year, $12 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March. … Drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Placed on team’s practice squad in 2009 before joining the active roster in 2010. … Traded to Seattle in 2011 for Kelly Jennings. Released by Seahawks before the 2013 season, but re-signed with the team in Week 2. … Three-year letterman at Memphis. Firstteam all-Conference USA selection as a senior in 2008. … Lettered in football, basketball and track and field at Jacksonville High School.

STATISTICS

YEAR G T (UA) SACKS INT

2013 15 35 (19) 5½ 1

2012 14 25 (17) 0 0

2011 15 35 (21) 0 0

2010 8 4 (2) 0 0

Sports, Pages 23 on 04/20/2014

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