McLaughlin moving past

He's never boring, but the tight end is learning to focus on the field while trying to earn a spot on the Bucs defense.

By ROGER MILLS

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 8, 2000

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Defensive end John McLaughlin, right, upends tight end Jason Freeman in practice.

TAMPA -- There are things he has done, like picking up food at the Taco Bell drive-thru ... in reverse.

There are things he wants to do, like bum rushing a pro wrestler in the middle of a pay-per-view event ... from the stands.

But right now, Bucs defensive end John McLaughlin said his focus is on the things he needs to do, like improving as a defensive end and rediscovering the form that made him a special teams standout for most of his rookie year.

Make no mistake, McLaughlin, in his second year out of California, is still the free-spirited, house-music-loving, one-million-things-going-on-at-the-same-time type of guy the Bucs took a chance on last year. But he is still down on the depth chart, and with three preseason games remaining, McLaughlin knows he must improve.

"You hear from all the guys that people are not going to keep you around because you can play special teams," McLaughlin said. "They'll keep you around maybe two or three years, and that's if you're exceptional. But your defensive game has to come around.

"I have to bring my game up. If I can continue to make as much progress as I have made so far, I think I'll be a good football player and hopefully, maybe, I'll get in some third-down situations or some rush situations. We'll see."

The first positive sign was his weight. As an undersized defensive end, McLaughlin weighed only 245 pounds as a rookie. Speed was his forte, but he had challenges handling mammoth offensive linemen.

So McLaughlin, 24, purchased a home in Westchase, spent the off-season working out and reported to camp at 262 pounds. The weight will make him better prepared to stop the run.

"We really felt this year, if he was able to gain the weight and learn the position, he could help us," general manager Rich McKay said.

Perhaps most encouraging for McLaughlin was what many in the organization described as deeper focus.

When he was drafted in the fifth round, the Bucs knew about McLaughlin's personality. They knew his mind was a whirlwind of plans and thoughts. "A lot of people, like when I'm walking by fans (at training camp) say, "Man you're crazy!' Crazy seems to be the word that comes up a lot," said McLaughlin, who entertains the idea of wrestling under the name of Johnny Smack once his football career is over. "I think everybody, except my girlfriend (Mellissa Harman) thinks I'm crazy. She asks me why people think I'm crazy and I say I don't know why. I really don't. Okay, I guess I do do some off-the-wall stuff."

No one knows more than Harman, a structural engineering student at South Florida who said nothing McLaughlin does surprises her any more.

"I don't see him as totally crazy but people tell me that all the time," said Harman, who remembered McLaughlin submerging his face while going down a set of freezing rapids on a recent trip to Alaska. "He's animated and spontaneous, that's for sure. He makes up conversations, just like that."

Added McLaughlin: "I really do not believe at all at being straight-laced. There's no harm in any of the crazy stuff that I do, it's all in good fun. I can't stand the monotony of every-day life. There are so many possibilities to be doing off-the-wall stuff and sometimes opportunity presents itself and I can't help it. When people look at me they don't think of me as totally normal. Dang, I busted myself."

Last season, the Bucs made sure that Kevin Winston, director of player programs, along with veterans from California such as Hardy Nickerson, Chidi Ahanotu and Regan Upshaw, kept McLaughlin under their wings.

"Face it, he's a guy who has many interests and is always operating at a high speed," Winston said. "I've got accustomed to his personality and the way he likes to do things.

"It was easy to create an environment in the locker room that made him more stable, as far as being comfortable and playing football. Externally, I was able to work with him, check in with him on a weekly basis and be accessible to him as much as possible. John has done extremely well. He has learned that in order to succeed you have to take your time and focus on individual things."

With the Bucs entering arguably the most important year in franchise history, roster spots are coveted, and being a special teams wizard may not be enough. In Friday's 13-12 preseason win over the Redskins, McLaughlin produced a critical stop on Washington's two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter, and added an equally important sack with time running out.

The effort was noticed.

"We've got to be able to know (he's) going to do (his) job before you do something else," Dungy said. "He's learning that and I think appreciating that part of it in the grand scheme of things. You go through some growing pains and you just realize that's part of it. And you've got to get the message across that being dependable, being someone who can be counted on is just as important as being quick and fast and strong and all that."

- Staff writer Rick Stroud contributed to this report.

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