Rookie Mac McCain III proud to bear grandfather’s name, legacy
Franklin McCain Sr. became a civil rights icon when he participated in a 1960 sit-in
It is arguably one of the finest traditions in college football. Before each game, the coaches, players and support staff for North Carolina A&T, an FCS program in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, get off the bus and walk a few steps to a statue titled “February One.”
On Fridays before leaving for a road trip or Saturdays before continuing on to the stadium, the Aggies touch the feet of the four men — Franklin McCain Sr., Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil and David Richmond — who staged a sitin at a segregated Woolworth’s in Greensboro in 1960.
The moment was always and uniquely special to Broncos rookie cornerback Mac McCain III, who is McCain Sr.’s grandson.
“It says they as athletes, but more importantly, as students of North Carolina A&T, understand the greatness that originated on that campus,” said Frank McCain, Franklin’s son and
Mac’s father, in a phone interview. “That there is a statue they can go and pay homage to those four brave men and one happens to be his grandfather, it’s remarkable and serves as inspiration to not only him, but probably the other players.
“If those boys walked down to the Woolworth’s and they can change the world, these young men on the football team can change the world as well.”
The Broncos’ players who will start training camp practices on Wednesday morning come from all parts of the country, each level of college football and have myriad family backgrounds. But it’s safe to say McCain is the only one who can say his grandfather is a civic rights icon and the subject of an oncampus statue.
“And a lunch counter in the Smithsonian,” Frank McCain said.
“And a dorm named after his grandfather that Mac lived in,” added North Carolina A&T defensive backs coach Thomas Howard.
Mac made his own mark at A&T, also the alma mater of his parents. McCain, 23, started all 29 games for A&T from 2017-19, totaling 113 tackles, eight interceptions and 22 pass breakups. He signed with the Broncos as an undrafted free agent. McCain Sr. passed away in January 2014, but Mac said grandpa is still keeping tabs on him.
“He loved football so we would watch a lot of games on TV,” Mac said. “I know he’s happy and excited up in heaven that I’m in the NFL.”
"Follow your gut"
Franklin McCain was 19 when he and three friends, later called “The Greensboro Four,” walked into the Woolworth’s on Feb. 1, 1960. They sat down at the part of the lunch counter reserved for white customers. Refused service, they staged a sit-in to stand up against discrimination in restaurants and stores in the south.
“It’s impressive, especially being a freshman and you’re really just trying to work your way around campus,” Mac said. “For them to be four freshman and taking a stance and lead a group of people to sit in … unbelievable.”
Unbelievable courage and unbelievable results. The sit-in started a movement across campuses in the south and on July 25, 1960, Woolworth’s integrated its lunch counters.
“If there is something that you want to do and in your heart, you know it needs to be changed, modified or turned upside down, go ahead and do it,” McCain Sr. said in a video interview with the Smithsonian in 2013. “Don’t follow your head. Don’t follow your heart. Follow your gut. But don’t wait for anybody.”
There are exhibits honoring “The Greensboro Four” in Washington (Smithsonian), Greensboro (International Civil Rights Center & Museum) and Atlanta (National Center for Civil and Human Rights). In Washington, a section of the actual lunch counter is part of the display. The oncampus statue was unveiled in 2002.
Mac McCain said he was “probably in the first grade,” when he began gaining knowledge of his grandfather’s bravery and impact.
“We started talking about it in school and I started to see him in textbooks,” Mac said.
McCain Sr., who was a chemist in Charlotte for nearly four decades after graduating from A&T, passed away at age 73 when Mac was a month shy of his 16th birthday.
“They were more like friends than grandfather and grandson,” Frank McCain said. “He appreciated that Mac carried his name into a third generation. But my father never really got to see any of his collegiate achievements or the exceptional athlete he has become.”
Starting in his junior year at Dudley High School in Greensboro, Mac’s athletic career took off.
"Returning from ACL Injury
McCain played youth football, but started his high school years focusing on basketball (point guard) and track (sprints/relays). He returned to football as a junior and was noticed by a North Carolina A&T assistant coach, who asked him to attend the program’s camp. A&T was McCain’s only full scholarship offer. Because he was semi-new to playing cornerback, McCain redshirted in 2016.
“The situation we were in at the time, we didn’t need him to come in and play so we let him work, develop, get better and learn the craft,” Howard said. “He
put in the work — a lot of extra hours (training) and 1-on-1 meetings with
Coach (Al) Washington to learn the position.”
McCain entered A&T’s starting lineup in ’17 and immediately shined. He sealed a win at FBS Charlotte when he jumped a route to the boundary and returned the interception 74 yards for a touchdown. The next season, he returned an interception 109 yards for a touchdown in a win over East Carolina.
McCain was cruising along in ’18 — he would be named first-team All-MEAC for the second consecutive year — until he sustained a non-contact torn ACL. McCain said he played at 75% in 2019, but he still had six pass break-ups and 26 tackles in nine games.
“There were little things I had to do,” he said of compensating for his health. “I had to watch even more film, I had to transition (in coverage) a little earlier and adapt to the new way I had to play.”
Said Howard: “Quarterbacks were still worried about throwing over his way.”
McCain entered the 2020 offseason with a clear goal: Play well enough to get drafted.
North Carolina A&T conducted several practices in the fall, but did not play a game because of the coronavirus pandemic. McCain focused on his classes and training.
“Football is what I love to do and when you love it, it’s a hobby so it wasn’t hard to go out and put in the work by myself,” he said.
No season. No all-star games. No Combine. No pre-draft workouts. McCain participated in North Carolina State’s Pro Day in March and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds.
If A&T had played last fall, McCain said: “For sure, I would have been drafted. I really needed that last year to up my stock and show the scouts that I was fully healthy.”
McCain could have returned to A&T for a sixth year, but having earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agriculture business, he declared for the draft. Even without a season, the McCains were optimistic when the draft started that Mac would be selected somewhere in rounds 4-7. Sixteen defensive backs went in the final two rounds, including Kary Vincent to the Broncos. None was McCain.
“As soon as the draft was over, the phone started blowing up from all these teams that were interested in him as a free agent,” Frank McCain said. “It was trying to figure out, in a real expeditious way, where the best place would be for him. Denver had not been a program we had talked to prior to that day.”
Mac based his decision to sign with the Broncos on the franchise’s success with undrafted free agents and coach Vic Fangio calling to deliver a recruiting pitch.
Representing HBCU programs
McCain knows the task at hand. The Broncos loaded up cornerbacks via free agents Ronald Darby and Kyle Fuller and firstround pick Pat Surtain II. Bryce Callahan, Michael Ojemudia and Essang Bassey round out the projected top six. But as last year exhibited, when the Broncos ran out of cornerbacks, developing McCain on the practice squad is sensible.
“Those (veterans) lead by action and I watch those guys closely in practice,” he said. “They’re great
NFL corners so I try and hone in on them and be a sponge.”
McCain will carry his grandfather’s name/memory/legacy with him, but a secondary objective is helping raise the profile of Historically Black College and University programs. No HBCU players were drafted this year and McCain is the lone alum on the Broncos.
“I want to show we should get more of a chance in the NFL,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of us (on rosters) and a lot more players should have gotten a chance and were good enough to play in the NFL, but weren’t seen enough. I want to be the guy who can change that.”