Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Former UM, Cardinal Gibbons standout ready for next step.
CORAL GABLES — With Miami coming off a run to the ACC Championship Game and capping a 9-4 season with their first appearance in the Orange Bowl in more than a decade, RJ McIntosh felt pretty good about the Hurricanes’ chances of continuing to improve.
That’s just one of the reasons the 6-foot-5, 286-pound defensive tackle struggled with one of the biggest decisions of his young life.
On the one hand, he could return to Coral Gables and help what’s expected to be another talented Hurricanes defense contend for a conference title and maybe even a playoff berth. Or, he could bypass his senior year, enter the draft and move one step closer to fulfilling his lifelong dream of playing in the NFL.
He chose, ultimately, to follow his heart and now, with the NFL draft set to begin Thursday, McIntosh — a former standout at Fort Lauderdale’s Cardinal Gibbons High — says he’s ready to move forward and start the next part of his football career.
“It’s tough walking away from that team, my teammates and the coaches,” said McIntosh, a second-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection who had 52 tackles last season and whose 12.5 tackles for loss were tied for the team lead. “We came off a great season, and who knows what might happen this year? We might have the opportunity to do bigger and better things. But this is something I’ve always wanted to do. Everyone in our locker room talks about making it to the NFL and everyone wants that chance to play on their favorite team or something like that and I’ve got that opportunity now. So I took it.”
For McIntosh, football wasn’t always within reach.
Growing up, he was bigger than most kids his age, and his mother, Kyria McIntosh, sometimes struggled to find a youth league team that would allow McIntosh to play. When some didn’t, he began playing basketball.
He eventually played both football and basketball at Gibbons, where he earned first-team AllCounty honors and his versatility helped him be- come a three-star prospect, coveted by Miami, Clemson, Florida and Georgia Tech, among others.
That versatility, his high school coach said this week, will make him an asset to whichever NFL team chooses to draft McIntosh, who is currently projected as a potential fourth- or fifth-round pick.
“Athletically, you always knew it was there, not just in football, but basketball too,” said Cardinal Gibbons athletic director Mike Morrill. “He was always a smart athlete, and as his body developed, you combined that intelligence with his strength and speed and he turned into what we’d always hoped he’d be. … He won’t be pigeonholed. Anyone that sees his film knows he can slide into tackle, play end.”
For the better part of the past two months, McIntosh has spent most of his days like every other NFL hopeful — training for the NFL Combine, meeting with team executives, working out for coaches and preparing for Miami’s pro day, which became even more important for him after a minor medical issue kept him from working out at the combine.
Now feeling better and with his medical issue under control, McIntosh could become the first Cardinal Gibbons alum drafted since kicker Blair Walsh was a sixth-round pick of the Vikings in 2012.
He could also be one of three Hurricanes defensive linemen taken, with defensive end Chad Thomas and fellow tackle Kendrick Norton both expected to hear their names called in the next few days, too.
All of that — and the opportunity to share the moment with his closeknit family, including his younger brother, Notre Dame running back Deon McIntosh — have McIntosh feeling excited about his future.
“My family has been a big part of this and they’re my inspiration,” McIntosh said. “They push me and I do this for them. My grandmother always wanted to see me make it to the NFL, but she passed away two years ago. I do this for her and to make my mom proud. When I get the chance to get her her dream care, that’ll probably make me cry right there. I’m doing this for all of them.”