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Princeton University Athletics
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McCareins Eyes Possibilities As NFL Draft Weekend Approaches
April 25, 2006 | Football
April 25, 2006
PRINCETON - Jay McCareins wasn't one to wait for something to happen. When the ball was in the air, be it from the quarterback's arm or the foot of a kicker, the All-America defensive back from Princeton always believed it was his for the taking. So you'll have to forgive McCareins if the wait this weekend drives him a little crazy.
Even if the wait is for a lifelong dream.
Like hundreds of other NFL Draft-eligible student-athletes, McCareins will watch commissioner Paul Tagliabue head to the podium Saturday afternoon in New York City and announce the first of seven rounds' worth of names. While the national media debates the potential possibilities in the first round, McCareins is left to dream about his own future, and how it could be directed by Sunday afternoon.
The journey that led the Naperville, Ill., standout to this coming weekend was a magical one for both himself and the Princeton football team. Injuries pushed him into the starting lineup late in the 2001 season, and he made his first career interception in a 34-14 home victory over Yale. That game was the first of two important trends for Princeton.
To start off, it was the first of many interceptions for McCareins. He ended his career with 18 picks, third most in program history. He missed the record of 22, held by Dean Cain, but McCareins nonetheless proved to be Superman for the Tiger football team, especially in the second trend that began with that Yale win.
In the last 32 games McCareins started in his career, Princeton went 20-12. Compare that against the last 32 games he didn't start, when the Tigers went 8-24, and, well, there's a correlation there.
He ended his freshman year with two interceptions, but he really broke into the Ivy League elite as a sophomore with a league-high five picks, including two against future NFL wideout Chas Gessner in the fourth quarter of a 16-14 win against Brown. McCareins earned second-team All-Ivy honors and seemed poised for a brilliant future. That brilliance was put on hold for a year, as an academic suspension cost him the 2003 season. It was a mistake that would have been disastrous for some. McCareins wouldn't let it ruin everything he worked for. He spent the year working on his game, and working on himself. He came back stronger and more mature, and he spent the next two years as a leader on the defense and a terror to opposing offenses.
His performance as a senior is arguably Princeton's best since the days of Keith Elias. He earned first-team All-America honors after leading the nation with nine interceptions. He picked off three passes in a win over San Diego and made one of the most important plays of the 21st century for Tiger football, a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that clinched Princeton's first win over Harvard since 1995.
Honestly, if you're not too familiar with McCareins' heroics this past season, go to the link for "schedule and results" and pick out a few games. See if you can find the game where he returned a missed field goal for a 100-yard touchdown. Or a blocked extra point for a two-point conversion. Or an interception for a 75-yard touchdown.
(If you don't feel like searching around, those games would be Dartmouth, Penn and Lafayette. Win, win and win.)
The Dartmouth win was the weekend before Thanksgiving. By the weekend after it, McCareins turned his attention on the individual workouts, pro days, interviews and yet more workouts that would consume the next few months of his life. Outside of classes and completing his thesis, football took center stage.
"We worked hard to get in some all-star games right after the season, and I was able to get in the Gridiron Classic [on Dec. 24]," McCareins says. "That went really well. I worked out well and played well. I got a lot of positive feedback."
The feedback came in a number of areas. Anybody who watched film on McCareins had to be impressed with his senior season and the effect he had in a variety of situations. But the scouts talked about his ball skills, his hips, the way he backpedaled ... all of the small nuances that scouts spend months breaking down to decide which player's name is put on a card and handed to the commissioner. Those nuances were demanded by the coaching staff at Princeton and developed through countless hours of work.
Of course, McCareins wasn't the only player getting positive feedback, and he did all he could to chart how other players were doing.
"Yeah, I was on NFL.com all the time, checking out how people were doing in combines," McCareins says. "My dad did a lot of looking for me as well. Combines, pro days, we looked at them all."
McCareins did a pair of pro days, one at Northwestern and one at Princeton. Between the two, he estimated about 20 NFL teams were able to watch him closely. He also completed a workout with the Bears, which he felt very good about, especially after being the only defensive back to be called up afterwards by defensive backs coach Steven Wilks, who estimated that McCareins could be a fifth- or sixth-round pick.
The economics major, who did finish his thesis and will graduate with the rest of the Class of 2006 this spring, will remain on campus through the week and will head home Friday to spend the exciting weekend with friends and family. Among those in the McCareins' household will be big brother Justin, a wideout for the New York Jets, and former Princeton wideout Clinton Wu, a close friend of McCareins.
"It'll be a good distraction having everybody around, especially Saturday," McCareins says. "I'm a fan of the draft, so I would watch anyway, but I know nothing is happening that first day. It'll be nice to take people around, go in the pool or barbecue. I'll probably have a little trouble going to sleep Saturday night, though."
On Sunday, McCareins will stay near the phone and see what happens. Realistically, he knows he could go undrafted, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Five or six teams have already contacted his agent, the same one Justin uses and a close friend of the family, and have expressed interest in bringing him into mini-camp. Zak Keasey '05 took the same route with the Washington Redskins and made the team, and several 2006 Princeton graduates will likely be invited to mini-camps.
But make no mistake, he wants that phone call.
"You only have one chance to get drafted," McCareins said with the smile that charmed the local media for his four years in the Orange and Black. "It would be great for my parents to say they had two kids get drafted. I'd love to play for the Jets and be with Justin. I'd love to play for the Bears after working out with them. I'm optimistic. I feel good about how I've worked out and played."
The second day of the NFL Draft produces gems every year. The New England Patriots selected Tom Brady in the sixth round of the 2000 draft, and Brady soon became the first quarterback to start and win three Super Bowls before the age of 28. Zach Thomas would go from the fifth round of the 1996 draft to Pro Bowl status with the Miami Dolphins, and Terrell Davis would go from sixth-round pick of the Broncos in 1995 to Super Bowl MVP in 1997.
McCareins plans on being one such gem from the 2006 draft.
Thirty-two franchises are on the clock.