SANTA CLARA – Marcelino McCrary-Ball kept talking. Every sentence was filled with passion, with meaning. He went on to show why he, an undrafted linebacker, made it to the 49ers and why he’s here to stay.
“I know I talk a lot, guys,” McCrary-Ball said. “I hope you don’t have that long to come back and listen, but I’m really grateful to be here. The real deal.”
His introductory press conference spanned 16 1/2 minutes and nearly 2,000 words, ultimately concluding with, “I want to do everything I have to do, one, stay here, but also be part of a Super Bowl-bound team , which is the 49th. The real deal. Yes Yes.”
McCrary-Ball has real potential. He was introduced to 49ers and NFL fans in free agency at Friday night’s preseason opener. Not only did he throw an interception at the 49-yard line, but his speed and determination fueled a 57-yard punt return. He ran back and forth against the Green Bay Packers.
“I was happy to see Marcelino play out there intercepting a ball,” defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said. “When it comes to playing in that defensive position, there’s a lot of improvement that needs to be done with the techniques, the details of the assignments and all that stuff. He’s continued to improve there.”
His path to the 49ers? The last six – yes, six! – Seasons were spent at Indiana University, although the Hoosiers captain did not play in 2020 due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in camp.
He is a 23-year-old, 6-footer from Roswell, Ga., where he played safety alongside Xavier McKinney, now a starter for the New York Giants.
McCrary-Ball is also the proud father of a 3-year-old daughter, Brooklyn Rose, who sat with him in his car on a Florida beach in late April when 49ers general manager John Lynch called to offered a job.
McCrary-Ball already had a job — at Home Depot. Now he’s among three undrafted rookies trying to make arguably the NFL’s best defensive unit, led by veterans Fred Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Azeez Al-Shaair.
Training camps across the NFL are filled with inspirational stories of underdogs, only a few of whom will beat the odds and survive the final cuts at the end of the month.
McCrary-Ball is set to be one of those success stories. Let him show you why, in these Sunday sounds:
As for what got him to 49th (rather than the other way around):
“The real part: Just the opportunity to be a part of the greatest players and organization in the world. I was undrafted so I got to choose where I wanted to start my NFL career. Above all, I want to go to the best place. I want to learn something. I want to learn how to be consistent. I want to learn how to be great.
“Where better than here, with Fred Warner and Azeez and Greenlaw and Flannigan, and now you have Oren Burks? Some OGs there. They are so durable. I have a lot of respect for those guys.
“I’ve only known them for three months, but I look up to them. I’m the type that if you’re up for it and you say it in a positive way and you can teach me something, I’m going to stick with you and be like you’re the little brother. But I will let you know that I can stay here, too, with you. I bring my weight when it’s time for it. Seeing those guys every day and being so intentional, I have to take it away from them.
“It’s not just in that room. I take lessons from (Jimmie) Ward. Or even BA The things he’s doing this year are crazy. This is a sophomore guy? I beat, but all these guys, I try to learn from everyone. Anyone can learn something, but if you’re not putting it out there, you’re wasting your time. What I’m trying to learn, I’m also trying to do.”
In Friday’s interception of a pass by Jordan Love:
“We relied on the red zone. We had our calling. They were empty so we knew it would be a pass. I’m running to where he throws it, I see the ball in the air for like 30 seconds, and I’m like, “That’s not real.” My mindset every time I get the ball, two things: I’m always trying to get into the end zone by any means, and the first guy isn’t tackling me. That has always been my mindset. Growing up I had guys in high school who were relentless with the ball, like Xavier McKinney; he plays for the giants, we were side by side safety growing up. I would watch him go into the end zone and never come down, and I had to get that (mindset) from him. (On the interception return), I saw my guys create a block and when Huf hit the quarterback, I cut him off and then I had to freestyle. I smell like I didn’t get it in the end zone. I would have been so mesmerized.
“I’m grateful to be on that field for the first time as an NFL player. I know I’m kidding, but, man, it’s a big deal for me. To be acknowledged by the guys on the team, the backroom, the backroom…from the coaches to the guys in the cafeteria who make our food, I’m really thankful for everyone who plays a part in my growth every day with this. organization.”
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 12: San Francisco 49ers’ Marcelino McCrary-Ball (40) tackles Green Bay Packers’ Ismael Hyman (5) during their NFL preseason game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday, August 12 , 2022. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
On his chances to make the 53-man roster:
“I had faith the day coach Lynch, um, John Lynch called me. I was in the car with my daughter at the beach. He called me and I decided to come here.
“Since that day, I’ve been making the team. I have dedication. I have faith. You know what I’m saying? There’s no doubt that I’m making the team, wherever you look – left guard, shooting guard, left tackle, kick return guard. If I’m on the field, I’ll be able to produce.”
(Sidebar: When jokingly reminded that Trent Williams has the left tackle job locked up, McCrary-Ball responded, “I was saying left tackle on the punt (unit). I’m not saying … No, he has it.”)
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – AUGUST 09: San Francisco 49ers linebacker #40 Marcelino McCrary-Ball practices with the team, Tuesday, August 9, 2022, in Santa Clara, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
On how he spent his draft weekend (or non-draft weekend):
“I went to my grandparents in Boynton Beach, South Florida … with me and my daughter. ‘Hey whatever happens, happens. Might as well spend some quality time with him.’ I used to work at Home Depot. I was trying to work, get in, go to work. If they draft me while I was working, fine. I wanted to make sure I had some money saved up and doing something productive or exercising.
“Ask anyone. People should really make me relax and unwind. We went down to Florida and it was the best decision to relax and get away from it all.
“We didn’t even have the TV on or anything. We would spend time playing cards. They have an indoor pool and my daughter was in it for eight hours straight, and I was there with her having fun.
“During the draft, on the third day (of the draft), I was thinking maybe. But I was on the links (golf) with Dad hitting some balls. Later, I went to Hollywood or some beach to see my brother because he has a 6-month-old baby, so I went to see him and my daughter was able to spend time with her cousin.
“The beach is my refuge. I have peace there. It’s fine, I was calm. Everything happens for a reason. I wish I had been drafted, just to show people who didn’t think I could make it here on my own, that goes for elementary school teachers, school resource officers, high school teachers, the kids I was at school with when I was in the trash early. in high school. That’s the only reason I wanted my name called, even if it was the last choice. The 49ers had the last pick, and I didn’t care, I wanted them to hear my name. Yes I did. You didn’t think that. But you heard that and you want to be my fake cousin or my fake friend and say, ‘Man, you did it.’ “
“Regardless, I still made it here and continue to do things that those same people didn’t think I would do. I don’t forget that, and that’s what keeps me going.”
On his ACL tear and recovery in 2020:
“It’s so crazy, every time I tore my ACL, it’s easy to say what I’m going to say because you couldn’t see it. I was about to … to … blow up…. Ask anyone in that Indiana University building, my players and coaches: I almost blew up that year.
“You have to learn from a bad situation, otherwise you will always be in a dark cloud or always be angry about something.
“The lessons I’ve learned from this and the moments I cherish are spending so much time with my daughter. And during my rehabilitation, I was able to see the other side of the absence on the field.
“I knew I was going to make it because of the way I was attacking my rehab. The beginning was not easy. During that month of recovery, I was like, ‘I can play. I don’t need surgery. You can ask Jacob Laterman. Get me in the zone and I’m good. Man for man, I probably can’t do it. I was attacking my rehab like crazy. It made me realize that I still have it.
“We came back the next year to continue what we just left and things weren’t the best. Indiana will be good this year. But I knew I still had what it took.
“It took six years to get here. But, like, yeah, yeah, I’m still going.”
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