2020 NFL Draft Prospect Interview: Shaun McGee, OLB, Tuskegee University

• Name: Shaun McGee
• Height: 6’3”
• Weight: 230
• Position: OLB
• College: University of Georgia/ Tuskegee University
• Twitter: @mcgee_ocho

Tell us about your hometown, and what you love most about it?

•I was born in Decatur, Georgia. I grew up in Snellville, Georgia on the North side of Atlanta. It’s a real busy town but what I liked about it the most was the diversity of people you could meet on a day to day basis. Also everybody knows that 6A football in Gwinnett County is the best around, loved the competition i was around.

List these three in order of importance and why: Film Study, Strength and Conditioning and Practice?

• 1) Film Study: This is the most important because I believe the guys that have the longest and most successful careers are the best students of the game. Film study and understanding what’s going on makes the game slower and allows you to perform at a higher level.

2) Practice: Having the physical reps to go along with the mental reps is important. The more you do something the faster it becomes a habit, from blitzes, to dropping into coverage, to just working on the little things that make you a pro at your craft.

3) Strength and Conditioning: although this is last on my list I still think it is very important. Taking care of your body and training your body to be able to withstand the stress a full season can put on you is important. Although the mental pet of the game is important, you have to have the body to be able to perform at a high level as well.

What do you worry about, and why?

• I worry about my family, a lot, because I’m not around them as much as I was when I was younger, so naturally I want everyone to be okay. I worry about school, just making sure I finish strong and I’m walking across that stage come May 9th at graduation. And I worry about my craft, making sure I’m doing something to continue to grow as a player each day.

Give me an example of when you failed at something. How did you react and how did you overcome failure?

• When I left for school to go to UGA I never expected that I would be back home. When i had to transfer, I sat at home for two years, that was the longest I had ever went without putting on the pads and that was a struggle, especially with my passion for the game. But I just turned it into motivation. I wouldn’t have went through it if I wasn’t meant to overcome it. I got up everyday and went to train. I made sure that when I got back on that field I picked up where I left off. The goal never changed, it always stayed the same. And now I have an opportunity to wear an NFL logo on my chest, it’s a blessing. And there’s still more work to be done

What do your teammates say is your best quality?

• Being a team player. Anything the team needed me to do I did, whether it was special teams or playing out of position on defense, I do what I have to do for my team.

Who is the best player you have ever played against in college?

• Best I ever played against was Clowney his last year at South Carolina.

What would your career be if you couldn’t play football? 

• I’d become a coach

Room, desk and car – which do you clean first?

• Car, because that’s seen most by the public, could be a first impression.

If there was a disaster and you could either save three strangers or one family member, which would you choose and why?

• I’d choose the one family member for sure, just based off the simple fact that family is everything.

If you could be any television or movie character, who would you be and why?

• I’d be Mike Lowry from Bad Boys, Just cause my guy had all the juice and he was the best at what he did.

Tell me about your biggest adversity in life and how you’ve dealt with or overcome it?

• My biggest adversity in life was the space between me leaving UGA and actually getting back on school. Two years is a long time, especially when your body and mind had been programmed to one thing for so long. But I just used it as motivation and got up everyday and continued to work because the end goal was still the same.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

• Most embarrassing moment would be my Junior year of high school when I played TE, I dropped a pass on 4th down and we ended up losing the game after that. The game was in the Georgia Dome and it was on TV.

What was the most memorable play of your collegiate career?

• My 3rd and 4th down stop on back to back plays vs. Albany State

What song best describes your work ethic?

• Go Harder- Future

What is the most important trait you can have (Physical or Non-Physical) to help you succeed at the next level? 

• Perseverance, it’s a business at the end of the day and it may not go your way all the time. But can you fight through that? Can you land on your feet and hit the ground running again? Doing whatever it takes not to be denied. I feel like that can make you successful on the field as well.

If you could bring one person back from the dead for one day, who would it be and why?

• My sister Nikki, she was that calming voice for me sometimes when stuff would get hectic in my head. And I miss that a lot. 

If you were to open a dance club, what would you name it? 

• Club Cave

Who is the most underrated player in the NFL? 

• Leonard Floyd, I don’t think people realize how good he is sometimes.

Would you rather be liked or respected, and why?

• Respected, at the end of the day everybody isn’t going to like you. But they can respect you and what you stand for. Respect holds more weight because it’s earned.

What player who had his career derailed by off-field issues do you feel for the most and why?

• Micheal Vick, because I feel like he payed a heavy price for the people that were around him. If that never happened he would’ve definitely had a Super Bowl.

Do you love to win, or hate to lose?

• Hate losing with a passion.

Who has been the biggest influence on your life and explain why?

•My mom has been the biggest influence on my life by far. Raising a son on her own, the sacrifices she had to make. Seeing that instilled intangibles in me that make me the man I am today.