Gerald McCoy

At 36 years old, Gerald McCoy has this physical status:

Gerald Keith McCoy Jr. (born February 25, 1988) is an American football defensive end for the Charlotte Panthers of the National Football League.

He played college football at Oklahoma, where he earned consensus All-American recognitions, and was drafted third overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2010 NFL Draft.

McCoy has been in Pro Bowl six times and has also been a three-time All-Pro.

Early years

McCoy was born in Oklahoma City to Gerald McCoy, Sr., and Patricia McCoy. He attended Southeast High School in Oklahoma City, where he competed for the Southeast Spartans high school football team and excelled in track. He was named All-area, all-state, and all-metro as a junior in 2004 after notching 83 tackles, including 23 tackles for injury and 20 sacks. He logged 82 tackles, 20 sacks, and recovered nine fumbles as a senior. According to USA Today, McCoy has received numerous awards, including 2005 National Defensive Player of the Year. McCoy played in the 2006 United States Army All-American Bowl after his senior season.

McCoy was one of the top shooters in the shot put in track & field (top-throw of 16.90 meters).

McCoy was ranked as the No. 1 by Rivals.com as the top recruit for five stars. In his class, he was the best defensive tackle prospect in the world. At No. 1. He was the top-ranked defensive tackle after Haloti Ngata (No. 4) in the overall rankings. 2) In 2002. McCoy was recruited by virtually every major school in the country and spent three days in Notre Dame, Southern California, Virginia Tech, Louisiana State, and Miami (FL), before committing to his home-state Sooners on National Signing Day.

Personal life

McCoy obtained a degree in human relations at the University of Oklahoma. At Pop Warner's annual All-American Scholastic Banquet in Orlando, Florida, McCoy was presenting with the 'Inspiration to Youth' Award in May 2012. McCoy and his crew also led local youths through football drills in Clearwater's North Greenwood neighborhood in September 2012. Gerald McCoy is married to Ebony McCoy, and the couple have five children together. For Episode 2 of Season 5, McCoy, J. Watt, and NaVorro Bowman appeared together in The League, a TV series based on a fantasy football league.

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College career

McCoy played for head coach Bob Stoops's Oklahoma Sooners football team from 2006 to 2009.

The young McCoys had high hopes after being redshirted for the 2006 season. McCoy was named the Defensive Freshman of the Year by the Big 12 in 2007. He finished the 2007 season with 19 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and two sacks after starting and playing in 13 games.

McCoy led all of Oklahoma's interior defensive linemen with 30 tackles and finished second on the team with 6.5 sacks in his sophomore season. In the BCS championship game against Florida, he had career-high two sacks against Texas, as well as his first interception in his career. He was named in Sporting News First-Team All-American, AP Second-Team All-American, and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year after the season.

Despite being regarded as one of the top prospects in the 2009 NFL Draft, McCoy decided to return to Oklahoma for his junior season. Rivals.com ranked him at No. 1. In 2009, he was the second defensive tackle in college football. McCoy played in 15 games (15.5 for losses), two sacks, two passes broken up, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery were among the many sacks. The Walter Camp Foundation selected him as a First-Team All-American. McCoy was also the 37th Sooner player to be named All-America honors in more than a season. After the 2008 season, The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated selected him to All-America teams. McCoy was one of four finalists for the 2009 Lombardi Award on November 10th. McCoy was the only non-senior on a list that also included Terrence Cody, Jerry Hughes, and Ndamukong Suh.

McCoy, a two-time team captain who played in all 40 games during his career (2007–09), was playing in the three-technique right defensive tackle position at University of Oklahoma. He also received two forced fumble recoveries and two fumble recoveries, one intercepted, and four passes defensed.

Professional career

McCoy was regarded as one of the top candidates of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was expected to be either a 4–3 three-technique defensive tackle or a 3–4 defensive end at the professional level before the draft.

McCoy was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 3rd overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft (as expected to play 3-technique DT). He was the highest drafted Sooners defender since Tony Casillas went to the Atlanta Falcons in 1986. He was also the second of three Oklahoma Sooners drafted in the first four picks of the 2010 NFL Draft, marking the first time in NFL history that one college had three players selected among the first four picks. Sam Bradford was selected by the St. Louis Rams with the 1st pick and Offensive Tackle Trent Williams with the Washington Redskins' 4th pick. On July 31, 2010, McCoy and the Buccaneers agreed to a five-year, $63 million contract.

On September 12, 2010, McCoy made his NFL debut against the Cleveland Browns. The Buccaneers won the game 17-14 due in large part to McCoy's outstanding defensive effort, which included three tackles and prompting a fumble. On opening day, McCoy became the Buccaneers' fifth defensive rookie to start for the Buccaneers since 1995, when Warren Sapp played against the Philadelphia Eagles in a 21-6 victory. On November 21, 2010, McCoy's first NFL dismissal was against the San Francisco 49ers. The Buccaneers won their first match in Candlestick Park since 1980, beating the Niners 21-0. His first multi-sack game came a week later, on November 28, 2010 when he sacked quarterback Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens twice. Despite a good defensive effort, the Buccaneers lost the game 17 to 10. McCoy suffered a torn left biceps on December 12, 2010, prompting the team to place him on IR two days later.

McCoy was ranked third on the Buccaneers with 3.5 sacks, tied for fourth on the team with 6.0 tackles for loss, and ranked second with 17 quarterback pressures during his rookie season despite missing the final three games.

McCoy was also limited by injury in his second season as a rookie in the NFL and played in just 11 games.

McCoy was placed on injured reserve on November 7, 2011 after tearing his right biceps during the Buccaneers' 27–16 loss to New Orleans, which put them in third place in the NFC South. Since being ruled out of the previous two games due to an ankle injury, he had only returned to action.

McCoy's season came to an end prematurely due to an arm injury. The Buccaneers ended their 2011 season on a 10-game losing streak, which resulted in head coach Raheem Morris' dismissal.

McCoy bounced back in 2012, gaining his first Pro Bowl berth in his first season without being interrupted by injury.

McCoy said, "I just wanted to play a complete season." "This is obviously a gift from God." With this, God has outdoned himself. "My aim was to be my best for my team." I was able to do it by doing so, and it showed people that I can play a little football." The Pro Bowl's receiver Vincent Jackson and running back Doug Martin were selected alternates, assuaging their teammate McCoy. 30 tackles (at least 10 tackles for a loss), 5 Sacks, and 1 forced fumble were among the year's most notable games.

McCoy continued his 2013 season in a good shape, with 2 sacks and a fumble bounce back from Week 4. McCoy started his good season in Week 10 with a big game against the Miami Dolphins. He had 5 tackles, two for injury, and then sacked Miami Quarterback Ryan Tannehill. In Week 11 of the 2013 season, McCoy had his best day of his career. With Warren Sapp and Brad Culpepper tying a franchise single-game dismissal record for a defensive tackle, he was racking 6 tackles, 3 sacks, and a pass deflection at home against the Atlanta Falcons. In 2013, McCoy was named to his second straight Pro Bowl appearance. He had 50 Total Tackles, 9 Sacks, 8 Tackles for a loss, 4 Pass Deflections, and a Fumble Comeback. Pro Football Focus named him as the NFL's Best Defensive Tackle for the 2013 NFL season. By the associated press and teammate Lavonte David, McCoy was named first-team All-Pro by the associated media.

Lovie Smith, the Buccaneers' head coach, took over McCoy and the Buccaneers in the 2014 season. He is McCoy's third coach in 5 NFL seasons. After continuing his good play and being a standout leader of the Buccaneers defense, McCoy and Tampa Bay were negotiating on a new contract. McCoy signed a 7-year contract worth $98 million and a $51.5 million promise on October 25, 2014. It was the first defensive tackle to sign a lengthy deal at the time. McCoy suffered his knee and was placed on Injured reserve the following Tuesday, ending his 2014 season with 35 combined tackles, 28 solo tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 forced fumble. Despite his injury, he was selected to his third straight Pro Bowl.

Despite having hand and shoulder injuries during the season, McCoy was still able to produce 34 combined tackles and 8.5 sacks, resulting in his fourth straight pick to the Pro Bowl. On the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016, he was ranked 63rd by his peers.

McCoy was selected to his fifth straight Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-Pro in 2016. He was also ranked 52nd on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.

McCoy was named to his sixth straight Pro Bowl on December 19, 2017.

After nine seasons with the Buccaneers, McCoy was released by the Buccaneers on May 20, 2019.

McCoy made his Carolina Panthers debut on June 3, 2019. In week 6, McCoy sacked former teammate Jameis Winston 2.5 times, resulting in a 37-26 victory.

McCoy signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys on March 31, 2020. After suffering a ruptured quadriceps injury in practice, he was released by the Cowboys on August 18, 2020, as part of an injury waiver.

McCoy signed with the Las Vegas Raiders on August 4, 2021. On September 15, 2021, he was put on injured reserve.

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