After proving his worth with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first five years of his professional career, the team couldn’t stand the chance of losing Gerald McCoy. Consequently, they made another seven-year pact with the defensive tackle. He joined the team in 2010, shortly after shattering different records with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Today, he is arguably one of the best defensive tackles any team could ask for in the National Football League (NFL). Of a truth, he is quite successful in almost everything he does. Apart from building a successful career, Gerald has also built a loving home as he is a married man and a father of five.
McCoy Has Been an Exceptional Player Since High School
Raised and groomed in Oklahoma City, his interest in football became more glaring during his days at Southeast High School. Apart from his involvement with the school’s football team, Gerald McCoy was also a good sprinter. As a student-athlete in his junior year, he recorded 20 sacks in addition to 83 tackles. With this, he received the All-Metro and All-State honors.
In his senior year, he performed way better than his previous records as he totaled 9 fumbles, 20 sacks, and 82 tackles. Also for this record, he bagged a lot of accolades, including being named as the National Defensive Player of the Year 2005, Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the Year, amongst other recognitions.
Gerald McCoy featured in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in 2016 and like always, wowed his audience with his overwhelming performance. Having built a successful high school career, he became a highly sought player as a good number of colleges came calling to have him play for them.
Highlights of His College Career With The Oklahoma Sooners
Gerald eventually decided to study at the University of Oklahoma. With the Oklahoma Sooners, he didn’t drop the bars as he went on to become one of the team’s most remarkable playmakers. For his efforts, he was twice named to the First-team All-Big 12 and First-team All-American; these were in 2008 and 2009. Earlier in 2007, he was honored as the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.
If anything, all of these recognition shows that Gerald McCoy is one of a kind footballer. There was no doubt that he would dominate other players in the NFL, and this has proven to be true. Subsequently, he decided to go pro and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after he was selected by the team with the 3rd overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
NFL Exploits Has Seen Gerald McCoy Become a 6-Time Pro Bowler
Joining the Buccaneers was a fulfilling dream for the footballer. He wasted no time in proving his worth with the team, even though he sustained several injuries. So far, he has played in a lot of games, including various pro bowl competitions, gathering a lot of wins, and fewer losses. Nothing speaks of his dominance in the league as a defensive tackle than the fact that he has been a part of the NFL all-star game six times.
What’s even more remarkable is that he attained this feat consecutively, from 2012 to 2017. Given that, it is not surprising to learn that he has been named to First-team All-Pro thrice; this is also consecutively from 2012 to 2014. In 2016, he was named to Second-team All-Pro.
McCoy’s NFL Career Began With a $63 Million Deal
As a result of his fine and consistent record as an exceptional footballer from high school, and throughout his college career, it was expected that Gerald McCoy would command a huge pay when he joins the NFL. This came to pass in July 2012 when the defensive tackle and the Buccaneers made a five-year pact worth $63 million.
As it was reported, the contract guaranteed $35 million. This immediately changed Gerald McCoy’s financial status from someone striving to make ends met to a multi-millionaire.
Making History With His 2014 $98 Million Contract
As a defensive tackle picked third overall, it was expected that McCoy would make all the difference in the defensive line of the Bucs. As the year went by, it became apparent that he was worth every bit of the $63 million he got after he was drafted, even though he was limited by injuries in his first two seasons.
Things improved for him in 2012 as he didn’t suffer any injury, McCoy kept up with his good performances and proved himself to be an important player for the Bucs. It earned him a $98 million 7-year contract extension, which guaranteed $51.5 million. When he inked the deal, he made history as the NFL player to sign the biggest contract ever for a defensive tackle.
Gerald McCoy remained with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers until 2019 when he joined the Carolina Panthers. It emerged that he signed a one-year deal with the side that would see him earn about $8 million with the possibility of earning as much as $10.25 million based on sack incentives and playing time.
The full breakdown of Gerald McCoy’s deal with the #Panthers: 1 year, $4M to sign, $3M base, $500K camp roster bonus, $500K in 45-man per game bonus. Plus, 6.5 sacks for $500k, 8 sacks gets him $1.5M. 250K for Pro Bowl, $250K for playoffs. Just $4M guaranteed. Total: Up $10.25M.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) June 3, 2019
The defensive tackle joined the Dallas Cowboys in 2020; he signed a three-year contract with the side worth $20.25 million. From what he has earned from his career, in addition to income from endorsement deals, it is easy to see why it is believed that the NFL star is worth at least $30 million.
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What We Know About The Family He Hails From
Having set a pace that keeps his name on his fans’ lips, it is pretty obvious that McCoy has found fulfillment in his chosen endeavor. He was born on the 25th of February 1998 in Oklahoma City and was named Gerald Keith McCoy Jr. He is no big talker and has played a perfect role in hiding most details about his upbringing. This is also the case with details of his immediate family, but from the little we have gathered, his parents are Gerald and Patricia Dianne McCoy. While it is not known if Gerald is an only child or not, we can tell that he has found brothers in the sports.
Gerald McCoy’s Wife Is His High School Darling
Gerald Mccoy is married, he tied the knots with Ebony Mccoy in 2013, and they have been happy together. The two met a long time ago when the footballer was a 7th grader, in his words, he knew she was the one. He describes her as a good wife and a best friend.
So far, their union is blessed with five children. They have three sons, including Marcellus Crutchfield and Gerald Keith McCoy Jr., and two daughters named Nevaeh McCoy and Germany McCoy. Gerald and Germany are twins.
His wife once offered that theirs is a very active family but that doesn’t stop them from making time for family time. According to the footballer, eating and dancing are their favorite things to do.
