An Example On and Off the Field: Pat McInally

For the first 20 years of his life, Jack McInally never saw a single clip of his father’s college playing days. Despite playing quarterback for the high school team his father, Pat McInally ‘75, coached and later joining the very same coaching staff as offensive coordinator, Jack rarely heard about Pat’s exploits as an All-American wide receiver at Harvard or All-Pro punter in the NFL.

It was not until last month, when Pat discovered he would be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as part of a 14-member 2016 class, that Jack finally saw videos of his father’s electric route running and acrobatic catches.

Around the same time, when he was honored in a press conference before the College Football Playoff Championship Game and invited to the coin toss ceremony at midfield, the memories began coming back for the elder McInally.

“[The committee] asked me if I had any clips from when I played back in the 70’s,” McInally chuckled as he recounted the call he received in early January. “I told them I hadn’t touched them in a long, long time, and wasn’t sure where they were. They somehow still managed to find some footage to play at the presentation, some that I didn’t even remember happened.”

For people who know Pat McInally,it is easy to understand why those clips are not a more important part of his life. To them, it has always been clear that his love for sports extends beyond the football field.

“Pat did so much off the field that it’s easy to forget sometimes how good he was on it,” long-time friend Michael Jacobs ’81 said. “It’s hard to believe that one guy could have impacted the world of football in so many different ways.”

From writing nationally syndicated newspaper columns advising parents of young athletes, to envisioning the original concept behind the multi-million dollar Starting Lineup football action-figure franchise, to coaching youth football, McInally has touched the sport at every level.

A CRIMSON STANDOUT

Pat McInally arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1971 looking to make his mark as a member of the school’s basketball team. Back home in Southern California, McInally had been a standout athlete in football, basketball, and volleyball.

Upon trying out for and joining the freshmen “Yardlings” football team, McInally immediately established himself as a player to watch on the gridiron.

In a Crimson game recap from 1971, his freshman season, one writer observed, “Coach Joe Restic and company were present for the game yesterday. They came to see if the lanky McInally might be able to bolster next year’s varsity offense, [and he] didn’t let them down, scoring 19 points, averaging close to 60 yards on kick-offs and completing 3 out of 4 conversions.”

After not receiving much playing time his sophomore year following his move to the varsity squad, McInally blossomed the following season. With John Hagerty ’72, Harvard’s leading receiver the previous year, graduating, McInally assumed the role of the primary target on the field.

He became a key cog in the offense right away, collecting 17 catches and 3 touchdowns in his first three games of 1973. By the time the season ended, McInally had amassed 56 receptions for 752 yards and 7 touchdowns, breaking multiple school records and cementing his spot in Harvard football history.

Players and press from across the country noticed McInally’s breakout year, voting him second team All-American behind USC standout Lynn Swann.

“Out of nowhere, I found out that I was second-team,” McInally recalled. “When I heard it was Lynn Swann ahead of me, that was when I first began to really think about a career in the NFL. Harvard’s not exactly a football school, but that recognition gave me the confidence to keep going with my career.”

McInally came back even stronger in his senior campaign, setting another Crimson record for receiving touchdowns with eight while falling just short of matching his previous marks in receptions and receiving yards.

Unlike the year before, these statistics proved to be enough. McInally was named a first team All-American at wide receiver.

Thus he capped a college career in which he piled up a total of 108 receptions, 1,485 receiving yards, and 15 touchdowns. All of these accomplishments were school records at the time he graduated.

A UNIQUE LIFE

“The trait that defines my dad most is probably his curiosity for so many things in life,” Jack McInally said. “At any given time, he’s doing what fascinates him most.”

There is no better explanation for all that McInally has accomplished since graduating from college. While most professional athletes worry about what they will do after their careers are over, McInally began pursuing other interests before his 10 year stint with the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL was finished.

Taking an increasing amount of interest in youth sports at the end of his playing days, McInally started a column called “Pat Answers for Kids.” It was run in over 100 newspapers nationwide at the height of its popularity, and as McInally responded to both teenagers and parents, he became aware of the problems and pressures facing young athletes. The cause is one that has since defined his life.

At around the same time that he began the column, McInally also showed how versatile he was on the field. When a series of concussions in his early years with the Cincinnati Bengals made it difficult for him to continue playing wide receiver, he became a full-time punter for the team.

After a historic career with the Crimson, McInally made the transition to punter for the Cincannati Bengals. He would go on to lead the league in average punting yardage and was named to the All-Pro team in 1981 By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

“I loved to punt before I even learned how to play receiver,” Pat McInally explained. “My dad and I would go out and kick the ball around when I was young, and before I knew it, I was really good at it.”

McInally’s penchant for punting ended up saving his NFL career, as he made the transition to the new position seamlessly. He went on to lead the league in average punting yardage multiple times in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, and was named to the All-Pro team in 1981.

AN UNEXPECTED FRIENDSHIP

Of everything Pat McInally has done in the world of football, however, there is nothing he is more proud of than the relationship he developed with a fellow athlete by the name of Michael Jacobs.

Early in the spring of 1976, McInally found himself back home in Villa Park, California, preparing for the opportunity of a lifetime. In just a few months, he would enter the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals, punting and catching passes from Pro-Bowl quarterback Ken Anderson.

While training on the campus of nearby Canyon High School during those months, McInally came to know a junior at the school named Michael Jacobs. Jacobs, like Mcinally, was a star athlete, but little else about the two men was the same.

That spring, Jacobs found himself without a home when his mother left the area to look for better employment. The previous year, Jacobs had not only been forced to live with a teammate on his football team, but also struggled to keep up with school and athletics.

In the span of a few months, McInally and Jacobs built an unlikely but deep friendship as the two practiced football.

The bond between the men grew so strong, that, 40 years later, Jacobs was the first outside of McInally’s immediate family to hear from him when he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

By that time, Jacobs had long since turned his life around. After attending Harvard on McInally’s recommendation and earning all Ivy-League honors on the football field, he became a senior medical officer with the title of Commander in the Navy. All of it, he credits to the man he met his senior year of high school.

“He [McInally] was helping me go through a list of vocabulary words in my senior year literature class one afternoon,” Jacobs said. “He knew about my interest in getting a football scholarship to go to college, but a sudden, he brought up the idea of going to Harvard. I took it as a joke at first, but it was probably the best piece of advice anyone ever gave me.”

Now, even with Jacobs well into his fifties and McInally his sixties, the two men still talk almost every week. For McInally, Jacobs is a constant reminder of how impactful youth sports can be.

A NEW CAUSE

McInally continues to work tirelessly at the intersection of sports and youth.

In addition to coaching a local high school team, he is a working on a book that compiles lengthy interviews he has had over the years with star athletes across various sports. The interviews, and the book in general, focus on how coaches, parents, and other important adults in each child’s life can bring out the most in him or her.

“I talked with a lot of the NBA guys from the 80’s, and 90’s, all very smart men who had a lot to say,” McInally recalled. “Pat Reilly, Charles Barkley, they all remembered how things came together early in their lives, and that’s something I want to share with others.”

For the perfect example of what sports can mean for a young, struggling teen, however, McInally need look no further than his close friend, Michael Jacobs. With Jacobs as his main inspiration, McInally remains at the forefront of advocating for youth sports.

At this rate, it is just a matter of time before someone, either directly or indirectly inspired by McInally, joins him in the College Football Hall of Fame.

—Staff writer George Hu can be reached at yianshenhu@college.harvard.edu.