Former NFL defensive tackle Gerald McCoy made quite the name for himself during a decade-plus spent in pro football. The third overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft garnered six straight Pro Bowl nods during his well-decorated playing days.
Now, the hope for showrunners at NFL Network is that his talent and football intellect will prove to be transferrable skills. It was recently announced, per Sports Illustrated, that the 35-year-old McCoy will be transitioning to the broadcast booth this football season.
McCoy is one of several new acquisitions for NFL Network. He’ll reportedly feature on NFL Gameday Morning alongside a star-studded cast, including Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner, Steve Mariucci, Cynthia Frelund, Ian Rapaport, Tom Pelissero, and Kimmi Chex.
NFL Network announced that they’ve added six new analysts ahead of the regular season:
– Gerald McCoy
– Chase Daniel
– Leslie Frazier
– Pep Hamilton
– David Shaw
– Robert Turbin— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate)
What NFL Teams Did Gerald McCoy Play For?
But before he moves onto his next line of work, let’s look back at McCoy’s standout pro football career.
If you’re not too new to football fandom, you’ll likely recall that McCoy began his pro career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As noted, the Bucs selected the big interior lineman out of Oklahoma third overall in 2010.
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Truthfully, McCoy’s pro career got off to something of a slow start. He missed a combined 13 games due to injury in his first two years. His production, when active, amounted to 39 tackles and four sacks. Not horrendous numbers, but not those befitting a third-overall pick either.
It didn’t McCoy too much longer to quiet his doubters though. His first fully healthy season resulted in 30 tackles, five sacks, and his first trip to the Pro Bowl. He ratcheted up those numbers in 2014, piling up 50 tackles and a career-high 9.5 sacks.
Since 2010, @Geraldini93 has the 3rd-most sacks (42.5) among all defensive tackles in the NFL#NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/eTTS4M6kQP
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork)
McCoy was a stabilizing force on Tampa Bay’s D-Line from 2013 through the end of his tenure there in 2018. He’d rarely miss time, and he frequently made plays. He met or exceeded six sacks in each of those seasons, notching the majority (45.5) of his 59.5 career sacks in that stretch.
The end of McCoy’s tenure in Tampa Bay was surprisingly bitter. The team released him, primarily because his cap hit was untenable for that iteration of the Bucs (per CBS Sports). He may’ve been agreeable to a pay cut but was never given the option. He expressed disappointment about an overall lack of communication from the team.
“The truth is, I did not speak to any of the coaches besides Bruce Arians without running into them while I was in the building working out,” McCoy explained. “Nobody called my phone. I didn’t speak to my [defensive] line coach, I didn’t speak to [defensive coordinator] Todd Bowles, I didn’t speak to anybody. I didn’t speak to [general manager] Jason Licht. I spoke to nobody.”
McCoy sought, and achieved, some measure of revenge in the 2019 season. He inked a one-year deal with the Carolina Panthers, an NFC South rival of Tampa Bay’s. McCoy proved solid, starting all 16 games and totaling 37 tackles and five sacks. He had one of his best games of the year with a 2.5-sack performance in a 37-26 dub against the Bucs.
Gerald McCoy sacks Jameis Winston for a 7-yard loss, kicks the turf and then stares down the #Bucs sideline. It's McCoy's first sack of the season and he beat Ali Marpet.
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD)
That would be the last productive campaign of McCoy’s storied career. He inked a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys heading into the 2020 season, but a ruptured quadricep cost him his roster spot, and he’d ultimately spend the season out of football.
He’d try to catch on with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021, but injuries prevented him from taking the field. McCoy’s career, much like it started, ended quietly.
But that should not serve to detract from the eight years of stout trench play that McCoy provided in the thick of his career.
And if he’s nearly as good an analyst as he was a ballplayer, NFL Network just got themselves a coup.
