New York Guardians WR Mekale McKay rises to leadership challenge

New York Guardians, Mekale McKay
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - FEBRUARY 09: Mekale McKay #1 of the New York Guardians acknowledges the crowd before the XFL game against the Tampa Bay Vipers at MetLife Stadium on February 9, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Rob Tringali/XFL via Getty Images)

The New York Guardians’ top receiver responded to a challenge from Kevin Gilbride and came up big on Saturday at MetLife. 

New York Guardians receiver Mekale McKay knows a thing…or three…about scoring big touchdowns in New Jersey.

Prior to his November drafting by the metropolitan area’s XFL squad, the Louisville native last played in the Garden State in 2013. Three touchdowns totaling 124 yards helped his Cincinnati Bearcats top Rutgers by a 52-17 final in Piscataway.

That killer instinct hasn’t left McKay over a well-traveled career that has spanned multiple leagues. It’s led him to East Rutherford, where he now serves as the top receiver for the Guardians.

From the moment he made his metropolitan return, McKay promised fans looking for an alternative or new source of professional football that they could expect big things from the Guardians.

“(Fans can expect) a lot of big plays,” he said with a smile, recalling that November afternoon at The Birthplace of College Football. “I think we’re going to come out here and be a physical team and represent the states of New Jersey and New York.”

The early days of the rebooted XFL have seen plenty of offensive heroics, but the Guardians have struggled to get the points flowing in their infancy truly. New York tallied 23 points in an opening weekend over the Tampa Bay Vipers, but a two-game road trip to Washington DC and St. Louis saw them on the wrong end of blowout losses. Struggles under center and on the line caused the offense to sputter to the tune of 26 consecutive possessions without a touchdown.

XFL presentation innovations allow for sideline conversations to be mic’d up and documented. With the Guardians playing out a listless 29-9 decision in the Gateway City, ESPN cameras picked up a solemn but developmental conversation between McKay and head coach Kevin Gilbride.

As McKay stoically watched the clock trickle out, Gilbride would tell McKay he “played (his butt) off”.

“When we gave you the ball, you made some plays,” Gilbride encouraged. He walked back to coaching duties before adding “I may need you to be a leader here, because there’s guys that I thought were going to be better than we are at doing that are just not.”

Leading up to a big showdown at MetLife Stadium, McKay embodied the spirit of a leader as the team practiced at the Torne Valley Athletic Complex in Hillburn, NY. Despite the offensive struggles, McKay spoke highly of his unit and encouraged fans to brave cold temperatures to see the Guardians try to make things right.

“I think we’re looking great. I think we’ve corrected a lot of mistakes,” McKay said. “I think (our problems) were addressed by the team instead of the coaches. So that’s going to put us on the right note.”

“Saturday’s going to be a great day. Bring all the intensity, all the roar you can bring and just expect us to play some great football.”

The payoff came on Saturday afternoon in East Rutherford. New York squared off against the Los Angeles Wildcats in a battle of 1-2 squads eager to reenter the premature XFL playoff picture. Their backs were further against the wall with the injury to starting quarterback Matt McGloin, forcing in third-stringer Luis Perez.

With the efforts of McKay and a healthy crowd of over 12,000 helping, the Guardians’ offense was able to muster enough firepower to conjure up a 17-14 win. The biggest offensive strike was McKay’s three-yeard leaping reception from Perez that put New York up 14-6.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wV0q8QHtbA

Postgame comments made it clear that the top receiver on the depth chart had fulfilled the request to step up his leadership.

“What I said to Mekale is that he needs to step up and be part of the leadership. I thought that he certainly tries to do that,” Gilbride said. “Throughout the entire week of practice, I thought he did a nice job of trying to elevate the players, as is usually the case when you lose two games in a row.”

“There’s a lot of morale problems…but he did a good job of keeping the buoyancy of the players up so we had spirited practices.”

Perez remarked how McKay’s prescience was particularly soothing in the wake of the former’s first XFL start. The quarterback declared that, even when McKay dropped an open fourth-quarter deep ball that could’ve sealed the game, he knew who to turn to in the late stages of a big win.

“He knows he makes that play 99 out of 100 times,” Perez said of the drop. “I told him, as soon as that happened, I’m coming back to you, I still have faith in you, and I know you’re going to make a play for me.”

On the season, McKay has tallied 117 yards on nine receptions. He’s responsible for the Guardians’ longest play from scrimmage thus far, a 45-yard catch in their opening weekend win over Tampa Bay.

The Guardians (2-2) return to action this Saturday afternoon on the road against the Dallas Renegades (5:00 p.m. ET, Fox).

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags