Freddy Demetrius McCrary (born September 19, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a fullback in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Mississippi State Bulldogs Mississippi State Bulldogs is the name given to the college athletics, athletic teams of Mississippi State University, in Mississippi State, Mississippi. The university is a founding member of the Southeastern Conference and competes in NCAA D ...

and was selected in the sixth round of the

1995 NFL draft The 1995 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1995 at the Paramount ...

by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. From 1995 to 2007, McCrary played for the Eagles and five other teams, including the 2003

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

championship team that beat the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

Early life

McCrary attended Naples High School in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

, and lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track. As a senior, he rushed for more than 1,200 yards and was named the school's Athlete of the Year in 1991.

College career

McCrary attended

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

from 1991 to 1995 and played on the Bulldogs football team for four years as

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

, with two as starter. At Mississippi State, McCrary made 32 receptions for 248 yards and 4 touchdowns and rushed 144 yards on 34 carries including one touchdown.

Professional career

Philadelphia Eagles (1995)

In the

, the

picked McCrary in the sixth round as the 208th overall pick. In his rookie season, McCrary started 4 of 13 games and had a 1-yard touchdown run on September 10. McCrary finished 1995 with six

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their position. Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackles, 9 receptions for 60 yards, and 3 rushing attempts. He made a 1-yard

kickoff return A kickoff is a method of starting a Drive (American football), drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicki ...

on October 15. The Eagles released McCrary on August 25, 1996, and McCrary spent the 1996 season away from football.

New Orleans Saints (1997)

With the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

in 1997, McCrary played seven games and made 4 receptions for 17 yards, 8 carries for 15 yards, and 2 kickoff returns for 26 yards. He also had eight special teams tackles. On November 23, a 20–3 loss to the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

, McCrary made 2 receptions for 20 yards and rushed 13 yards on 5 carries. McCrary made a 15-yard kickoff return on December 7 and 11-yard return on December 21. The Saints released him prior to the 1998 season for participating in a

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

of rookies that became violent, and no other team would sign McCrary.

San Diego Chargers (1999–2002)

McCrary returned to professional football in 1999 with the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

and for the first time played all 16 games in a season. With 14 starts, McCrary made 37 receptions for 201 yards and a touchdown in 1999. That touchdown was McCrary's first career receiving touchdown, in which

Jim Harbaugh James Joseph Harbaugh ( ; born December 23, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach at ...

completed an 18-yard pass to McCrary on December 26 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. In the final game of the season on January 2, 2000, a 12–6 win over the defending champion

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, McCrary made 3 receptions for a season-high 39 receiving yards. McCrary earned the team Special Teams Player of the Year honor for 15 special teams tackles. On December 5, McCrary returned one kickoff for 4 yards. In 2000, a 1–15 season, McCrary started 12 of 15 games played and made 18 receptions for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns, 7 carries for 8 yards, and 11 special teams tackles. Although McCrary rushed for 9 yards on 5 carries on September 24 against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

, a potential 4-yard first down run of his was nullified due to an illegal formation penalty on Ben Coleman. On November 12, in a 17–7 loss to the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

, McCrary made an 8-yard touchdown reception from

Ryan Leaf Ryan David Leaf (born May 15, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for four seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Diego Chargers and the Dallas Cowboys between 1998 and 2 ...

in the first play of the fourth quarter. On October 1 against defending champion

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

, McCrary made 3 receptions, including one for a touchdown, for a season-high 24 receiving yards. McCrary started 13 of 16 games in 2001 and made 13 receptions for 71 yards, 5 special teams tackles, and 2 rushes for 3 yards. His game that year with the most receiving yards was the season opener on September 1, a 30–3 win over the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, in which McCrary made 2 receptions for 22 yards. In 2002, McCrary started all 16 games and made 22 catches for 96 yards and a career-high 3 touchdowns. Like last season, the season opener was McCrary's best offensive game in the year, as McCrary made 3 receptions for 30 yards in a 34–6 win over the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

on September 8. On November 17, McCrary scored on a 1-yard catch from

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees is sec ...

in the tying touchdown drive that forced overtime against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. San Diego won 20–17. McCrary's blocking helped running back

LaDainian Tomlinson LaDainian Tarshane Tomlinson (born June 23, 1979), nicknamed "LT", is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. After a successful college football career with the T ...

rush for 1,236 yards in the 2002 season, the first Charges player to do so since 1994.

New England Patriots (2003)

Because of frequent injuries, McCrary only played in 6 games (3 starts) in 2003 for the

, who would later win

. In his one season with New England, McCrary made 2 catches for 12 yards and rushed 3 yards on 3 carries.

Atlanta Falcons (2004–2006)

McCrary started 2 of 3 games for the

as a late-season replacement for Stanley Pritchett. McCrary made 2 receptions for 23 yards. As an offensive line blocker, McCrary helped block for

Warrick Dunn Warrick De'Mon Dunn (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12th overall in the 1997 NFL ...

's 134-yard game on December 18 and 132-yard rushing game on January 2, 2005. McCrary played 15 games in 2005 and had 3 receptions for 12 yards. As an offensive line blocker, McCrary contributed to a rushing game that averaged 159.1 yards per game. In 2006, McCrary again played 15 games, this season as a reserve fullback mainly playing special teams. He made 3 receptions for 13 yards. Due to a broken foot, McCrary missed the season opener. On September 17, McCrary caught a pass from

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

4 yards for a touchdown in the Falcons' 14–3 win over the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. McCrary also made a 10-yard kickoff return on October 1 and 7-yard kickoff return on October 29. He was cut from the

in the 2007 offseason.

Seattle Seahawks (2007)

He was signed by the

on October 10, 2007, though he was cut again on December 5. McCrary played six games.

Personal life

In 1998, not signed with any team, McCrary worked as a night-shift

corrections officer A prison officer (PO) or corrections officer (CO), also known as a correctional law enforcement officer or less formally as a prison guard, is a uniformed law enforcement official responsible for the custody, supervision, safety, and regulation ...

at a

maximum security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility wher ...

Orleans Parish, Louisiana Orleans Parish (; ) is a parish of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 1870, the parish has been coextensive with the city of New Orleans, and the parish and city are largely governed as a single consolidated city. History On April 10, 180 ...

. Interviewed by the ''

North County Times The ''North County Times'' was a local newspaper in San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of U ...

'', McCrary described the prison as housing mostly murderers and recalled seeing rape and violence regularly. McCrary is married and has three children. In 2012, McCrary joined over 1,000 other NFL players suing the NFL over

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

s suffered during their careers.

References

External links

Fred McCrary at pro-football-reference.comAtlanta Falcons bio from 2006Seattle Seahawks bio from 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCrary, Fred 1972 births Living people American football running backs American prison officers Atlanta Falcons players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players Naples High School alumni New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players Philadelphia Eagles players San Diego Chargers players Seattle Seahawks players Players of American football from Naples, Florida