Perspective Through Adversity

After all, what competitor wants to spend hour upon tedious hour in the training room? Or sit and watch? Or miss those shared moments with teammates or the adrenaline rush of game day?

 

Jake McGee knows. He’s lived that life. These days, he’s living it again. There’s a silver lining, though. Past experiences have given him perspective. The pain, the disappointment, and the uncertainty have made him tougher and stronger. They’ve made him more philosophical, more patient, more reflective. They’ve made him better.

 

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McGee is one of the most decorated athletes in Collegiate history.

 

A 2010 graduate, he quarterbacked the Cougars to VISAA football championships his junior and senior years. His senior year, he accounted for 3,007 yards passing and 34 touchdowns plus 576 rushing yards and another 11 scores. In three seasons, he amassed 8,675 total yards (including 7,406 passing) and 101 total touchdowns, all numbers which rank him high on the all-time Central Virginia leaderboard. His final year, he also made 60 unassisted tackles as a free safety. In the Cougars’ 48-28 victory over Liberty Christian Academy in the 2009 state championship game, he had a hand in all seven Collegiate touchdowns (four passing, three rushing).

 

A two-year captain, McGee earned multiple All-Prep League, all-state, and All-Metro honors. He was league player of the year in ’08 and both league and state player of the year in ’09.

 

“Jake had this unbelievable competitive nature,” said Mark Palyo, head football coach since 2007. “He worked hard to be a leader. He worked hard to win.”

 

McGee was no less accomplished on the basketball court. A four-year starter and three-year captain, he scored 1,656 career points, by far the most in program history, and averaged 17 points and nine rebounds per game. He was All-Prep twice, all-state and All-Metro once, and Prep League player of the year in his final season.

 

“Jake was one of the most skilled and versatile players ever to step on the court for Collegiate,” said Alex Peavey, who headed the boys’ basketball program from 2004-2016. “He had an unbelievable ability to find the open teammate, score at will on his own, and always dominate the rebounding.”

 

After Collegiate, McGee, at 6-5, 250, focused on football, switched to tight end, played three seasons for Virginia and one, as a graduate transfer, for Florida. All told, he caught 112 passes for 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns.

 

It was in Gainesville that he suffered his first career-threatening injury: a tib-fib fracture in his left leg early in the Gators’ 2014 opener with Eastern Michigan. The NCAA granted him an extra year of eligibility, he returned as a starter, and then, as an undrafted free agent, earned tryouts with several National Football League teams.

 

Ultimately, he landed in Pittsburgh and spent the 2017 season on the Steelers’ 10-player practice squad with hopes of making the 53-man roster. Then, this past May, he tore his left Achilles tendon during OTA’s (organized team activities).

 

“It was a bummer,” he said. “I’d had a good year. They wanted to keep developing me. The off-season went well. But things happen.”

 

He’s been on injured reserve ever since.

 

“Right now, my daily routine is go in, go to meetings, do rehab, and get a lift in,” he said. “I still have a few months in the rehab process. Then, I’ll pick back up where I left off and go from there.”

 

McGee, who as a sophomore at Collegiate scored 30 points in a basketball game against Nansemond-Suffolk just four weeks after undergoing surgery to stabilize a broken collarbone, is an old hand at fighting through adversity.

 

The latest injury, though, seems one too many, an undeserved stroke of fate for a guy who is dedicated, diligent, and willing to pay the price to achieve excellence. Is it a message that it’s time to scrap the NFL dream and seek a spot in the still-on-the-drawing-board reboot of the XFL or the nascent Alliance of American Football? Or to put his graduate degree in sports management to use? Or is it just another chapter in a long and devious narrative that will ultimately have a happy, Jake-plays-on-Sunday ending?

 

Whichever, it’s another test of his resilience and courage, and he’s undaunted by the challenge.

 

“I don’t get too high; I don’t get too low,” he said. “It’s just getting back on the horse and getting after it. Whatever happens, happens. I’m making the most of situation and enjoying my time. I don’t waste energy on things I can’t control. I try to keep a positive attitude and happy spirit and work as hard as I can to get to the top of the totem pole and achieve the dream.”

  -- Weldon Bradshaw