Defensive Tackle
No. 79
Notre Dame
"Aside from Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw, the most talked about rookie last year was Mike McCoy, the Packers' number one draft choice out of Notre Dame. McCoy moved right into the defensive right tackle job. His speed enables him to pursue his man, he has top-rated lateral movement, and is a good pass rusher and sure tackler."
-Brenda Zanger, Pro Football 1971
"The former Notre Dame All-American took over a starting job in the front four as a rookie last year. The Packers think he'll be their next great lineman. Mike has 5.1 speed for 40 yards and is rated an excellent pursuer. He's unusually quick for a man his size [6-5, 284].
Green Bay's No. 1 draft choice in 1970, Mike was an economics major in college and hopes to attend law school. A former Pennsylvania high school wrestling champion, he also wrestled for two years in college.
Mike is a native of Erie, Pa."
-John Devaney, The Complete Handbook of Pro Football (1971 Edition)
"The Packers' first round draft choice and the second player to be picked in the 1970 college draft, Mike won a job as a starting defensive tackle for Green Bay in the preseason and played in every game last year.
As the top-rated defensive player in the nation in his senior year at Notre Dame, he proved to be an excellent pursuit man with great lateral movement, quickness, balance, character and attitude. Mike was an AP, UPI, NEA and consensus All-American and played in the East-West Shrine Game and the Cotton Bowl as well as the Coaches' All-American and the Chicago All-Star Games.
Mike was coached in college primarily to read and react, he's a good pass rusher and excellent tackler, and makes the play because he's generally near the ball. He's very strong, has good intelligence and hustles all the time.
Mike expects to attend law school."
-1971 Topps No. 248
"Entering his third year in pro football, Mike is rapidly becoming one of the finest defensive linemen in the game today. He has a knack of always being near the ball and therefore often makes the 'big play' of the game.
Mike was rated the top defensive player in the nation as a senior at Notre Dame. He works for a bank in the off-season."
-1972 Topps No. 172
"Mike is an excellent pursuit man with top-rated lateral movement, quickness and balance. A good pass rusher and tackler, he hustles every minute of every game."
-1973 Topps No. 296
"Mike is very strong with good intelligence and makes the big play because he's always near the ball. He was a consensus All-American.
Mike was a high school wrestling champion."
-1974 Topps No. 425
MIKE MCCOY IS HAVING MORE FUN THIS YEAR
"Mike McCoy is putting a little fun into his football this year. And getting lots more out of it.
In fact, the Green Bay Packers' big defensive tackle is having the kind of season some fans believe he should have been having for the last three.
'He's been pretty darn good,' says coach Dan Devine. 'Better than I've ever seen him. And I have a feeling it's going to continue, too.' McCoy thinks so, too, that he is doing better this year and looks forward to a continuation of that style.
He stepped into a starter's berth as a rookie out of Notre Dame in 1970, was chosen as Packers Rookie of the Year that season, then heard for the next three how he had failed to live up to his potential, how he wasn't mean enough to play defense.
There were injuries along the line. McCoy learned to live with the injuries. The criticism was another matter. 'I used to think about it a lot,' he says. 'I tried not to let it bother me but I guess it did. I really don't think a lot of it was valid. If you're not aggressive on the field, you're just not going to be playing that long. You'll get your block knocked off.
'I decided this year, though, to improve my attitude. I'm not letting outside things get in the way. If people want to say things, or write things, or say things about me, I just say to myself, 'Fine, they're entitled to their opinions.' I'm trying to do the best I can and turning the rest over to the Lord. I've got peace of mind this year that I never had the last two or three years.
'Personally, I've been trying to make the game fun this year. I know it's a business and there's a lot of work to be done, but you can still have fun with the people you're playing with. You have to help each other make it fun. We can have a little fun, too. We've seen what it's like to lose and be humiliated.'
McCoy agrees that his play has improved, but thinks that the defensive line as a whole has made progress. 'Clarence Williams had been doing real well, and Dave Purifory slipped in there without any trouble. He's helped us a lot. It's easier to work with guys like that.'
Easier, perhaps, but not altogether simple. 'Defense still is hitting, but in the Packer system techniques are probably more important than in a lot of other systems,' McCoy says. 'There just are certain things our defense has to do, or it won't work. I think we found that out last year. We learned some valuable lessons. We went up real fast two years ago, then we came down just as fast last year.'
Devine figures that much of McCoy's improvement this year is due mainly to experience and maturity. 'He's always given us a great effort,' Devine says. 'It's as if he now knows how to use it. He's making the extra effort now and getting the job done. He's healthier now, too, than he's been the last couple of years. I know he doesn't want to use injuries as an alibi, but he was hurt.'
Effort, technique, maturity and experience and whatever psychological aids McCoy has been using, they all have made this year a lot more fun for Mike McCoy."
-Mike Kupper, The Milwaukee Journal (Football Digest, January 1975)
"Voted Packers Rookie of the Year in 1970, Mike was the top rated defensive player in the nation at Notre Dame. He was an AP, UPI, NEA and consensus All-American.
Mike has 5.1 speed in the 40. He is a former high school wrestling champion."
-1975 Topps No. 362
"Particularly strong playing the run, Mike consistently leads the Packers' defensive pursuit. He was Packers Rookie of the Year in 1970."
-1976 Topps No. 262
"An all-out hustler with excellent character and a superior attitude, Mike enjoyed another superior season in 1976 with three fumble recoveries. He has been a starter in the Packers' front four since the opening game of his rookie campaign of 1970.
Mike was an AP, UPI, NEA and consensus All-American at Notre Dame."
-1977 Topps No. 44
