Image via Eastern Michigan Athletics
Former Eastern Michigan cornerback Freddie McGee III has been getting a lot of attention in Detroit in the week before the NFL Draft.
No, he’s not draft eligible.
He’s been out of college for five years now.
Spotted outside of the Detroit Lions’ practice facility, bright and early on a Monday morning, McGee held out a sign to let the team know that he thinks he’s got what it takes to get into the NFL. Let him put those cleats hanging from his neck on and show you what he can do.
“THIS IS GRIT,” the sign reads, “NO AGENT / 14 INT, 25 PBU / DPOY IN AFL / NEED 1 SHOT.”
On Monday morning, McGee was spotted in Allen Park.
By Tuesday, McGee and his cleats were seen on… CBS Evening News?
Finding McGee’s stats with the Salina Liberty in Arena Football One is… pretty difficult to find after my sixth Google search, so I’m going to defer to McGee’s posterboard-sized cover letter for that information. The Liberty is an indoor league football team based in Salina, Kansas, and McGee’s been with the team since 2022, his first year out of college. It’s previously been affiliated with the Champions Indoor Football (CIF, now defunct) and Indoor Football League (IFL) too.
McGee, from Salem, Mich., once had to prove his way onto EMU’s roster too.
The son of Freddie McGee Jr., a former football and track athlete from 1992-1996, wasn’t offered any scholarships out of Salem High School, so walking onto the team was his only option as a freshman in 2016.
Two years later, McGee had gone from walk-on scout and special teams guy to scholarship player. McGee finished his EMU career after 47 games and 10 starts later, McGee graduated after making 85 career tackles (65 solo, 1.5 for loss), 11 pass breakups, and 1 interception.