Kornacki: From Buckeye Captain to Wolverine Fan
11/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 25, 2016
By Steve Kornacki
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- One of Ohio State's football team captains from 1988 will be outfitted head-to-toe in Michigan gear for "The Game" this year.
Michael Juey McCray Sr., a rugged Buckeyes outside linebacker who played for Earle Bruce, didn't lose a bet in this matter of maize and blue garb. So, what in the name of Woody Hayes is going on here?
The answer is simple: His son, Mike McCray -- Michael Juey McCray II -- is a starting linebacker for Michigan.
"I will be in the blue and the gold ... and the maize, or whatever it is," said the father, chuckling. "I still get messed up on that, but I'm very supportive of my son. I get asked, 'How can you do it?' But it's very easy to do, it's extremely easy to do.
"Your love for your kids is much stronger, hopefully, than your university. I've loved Ohio State, and I'm glad they gave me the opportunity to play football, and I got a degree from there. But the love for my son definitely outreaches that."
Three decades ago, the father wore scarlet and gray and played in the storied "Horseshoe" on the banks of the Olentangy River. But his son's college decision was like that of the salmon, going upstream to that school and team Hayes first referred to as the one "up north."
"Our relationship is a really good one," said the father. "I treat him like a young man but need to navigate my influence on certain directions he's choosing because he's going to make his own decisions, just like the one he made to go to Michigan."
The one-time leader of the Buckeyes laughed long and hard about the reality of having a son play for his one-time hated rivals.
"He's been a very independent person all of his life," said the father. "But the relationship is one of mutual respect. He respects me as his father, and I respect him as being a young man and my son."
Ohio State got serious with McCray, a four-star recruit, only after he committed to Michigan in the spring of his junior season at Trotwood-Madison High, the Trotwood, Ohio, school where his father has been an assistant principal for 16 years.
"They didn't offer me (a scholarship) until after I committed here," said the son. "So, that's that. I made my decision, and that's what I wanted to stay with. It's where I fit and where I wanted to be."
He honored his father by taking half of his number.
"I wear No. 9 because my dad wore No. 99 at Ohio State," said McCray. "I didn't want to wear 99 because I think it looks awful. It's just too big. He has one of them at home. It looks too big on the jersey. So, I'm not wearing it and I wear No. 9. It's stuck with me since high school."
His father came to OSU from Dayton (Ohio) Dunbar as part of a great recruiting class that included Lombardi Award-winning linebacker Chris Spielman and All-America receiver Cris Carter. McCray's best season was 1987, when he made 71 tackles, including six for lost yardage, and scored a touchdown.
Michigan won both of the games he played in at Ohio Stadium, and he made two tackles in 1986 but said he didn't tackle current Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, then the quarterback, in that game because his focus was special teams.
But the one game he played in Michigan Stadium was a 23-20 upset win over the Wolverines. McCray made seven tackles (six solos) and recovered two fumbles, including one that led to a touchdown. Bruce had been fired in the days leading up to that game despite the objection of director of athletics Rick Bay, a Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor member and Big Ten wrestling champion, who was let go as a result of refusing to terminate a coach he believed in.
Those Buckeyes loved playing for Bruce and wore white sweatbands on their foreheads with "EARLE" printed on them in support. They carried him off the field on their shoulders that afternoon in Ann Arbor.
"I've still got my 'EARLE' sweatband at home," said McCray. "He's one of my guys and one of my biggest supporters. Michigan really was the better team that year, but we wanted to do it for Earle."
He ran into Spielman, now a college football TV analyst, at a Michigan practice a few years ago.
"But he didn't recognize me at first," said McCray, chuckling.
He said Spielman didn't give him a tough time about his son's place on the other side of the rivalry, but Jeff Uhlenhake, a captain with McCray and currently OSU's assistant strength and conditioning coach, did take exception.
McCray said: "We had that conversation like, 'C'mon?' I got a lot of text messages and phone calls that said, 'For real?'"
The elder McCray, a 1988 captain for the Scarlet and Gray, and his wife now support their son's Maize and Blue
He recalled "how physical" those Michigan games were and the challenge of chasing Wolverines tailback Jamie Morris (340 yards and three touchdowns combined in 1986 and 1987) and going up against fullback Jarrod Bunch and tight end Derrick Walker, all three of whom played in the NFL.
"They had a big, old tight end I had to go against all day in Derrick Walker," said McCray. "I remember him most because we had a physical confrontation on every play."
Walker is now the director of development for the Midwest region in the Michigan athletic department.
"I remember Mike being tough to block because of his size and speed," Walker said. "With so much focus that we had on the running game back then, we went one on one a bunch. Some you win and some you lose, but with Mike you knew it was going to be a long day and tough battle. Couple that with being a rivalry ... so the intensity was elevated."
That "intensity" will be on display once again in Saturday's (Nov. 26) showdown game at Ohio Stadium between the No 2 Buckeyes and No. 3 Wolverines, both 10-1 and 7-1 in the Big Ten.
"The motivation is going to be high," said the younger McCray. "It's going to be a battle, and we want to go down there and get a victory. We haven't won the Big Ten championship since 2004, and we feel that's way too long.
"My dad scouts them (OSU) a little bit for me and lets me know what he sees. He's on our side until maybe after I leave."
McCray is third on the Wolverines with both 63 tackles and 11.5 for lost yardage. He also has 3.5 sacks, one forced and one recovered fumble, one interception and five pass breakups.
"His athleticism is extremely good plus he's physical," said Harbaugh. "He can athletically play outside of the box and physically play within the box. He's been good in pass coverage, and his instincts are real good as an inside backer -- which is one of the most important tools.
-- Mike McCray
"He's overcome shoulder injuries and is as tough as they come. You never hear a word of complaint, never a whine."
McCray, nicknamed "Big Play" in high school, was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for his nine tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble against Hawaii. His father's seen every game except the loss at Iowa, and his mother, Glenda, was there to support their son.
"My wife calls him Michael," said his father. "I call him 'Deuce' and Mike, but we don't call him Junior. I usually call him 'Deuce.'"
They focus much more on family talk than football.
"We talk a little bit about football after the game," said the son. "He'll mention something he saw on the field. Other than that, we talk about anything but football. He knows what we go through every day because he went through it. He knows it can be kind of overwhelming at times if you just keep talking about it.
"So, we have a great relationship, and that's a great part of our relationship."
His father said, "I made up my mind a long time ago that I wanted to have a son, and not just a football player. After football's over, I want to sit in the basement or garage with him and have a conversation about life and his kids and his family. Sometimes as parents, we can push-push-push, but we can push them away.
"So, I decided to relate to him as a young man and not just a football player."
How did his father help mold him?
"Growing up he was really hard on me," said McCray. "I feel he made me a better person and who I am today. He and my mom did a great job of raising me. He's real intense because he used to be a coach as well. He was a high school head coach. And he's still real intense to this day. So, that played a big role in molding me."
Dad coached at his alma mater, Dunbar, and also at Colonel White High in Dayton.
This is "Deuce's" first year as a starter after missing 2015 with a shoulder injury. He didn't play as a freshman in 2013 and earned a varsity letter in 2014 playing mostly on special teams.
"I'm really proud of him coming back from the adversity last year and working hard," said the father. "I think he's playing really good. I'm so proud of him, I really am. He's done a great job of dealing with life's ups and downs.
"He's a really, really great person. That's what I like about him more than anything else."
