Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – The knock on the door startled Justin McCray at first. He hadn't been in Green Bay for more than a few days, and to that point, the only friends he'd made were the four walls of his hotel room.
McCray, who signed with the Packers as a street free agent during that 2017 offseason, was among the two dozen or so roster hopefuls staying at a local hotel in Green Bay while participating in the team's nine-week offseason program.
The first thought in McCray's head was someone must have the wrong room and opened his door to correct them on their error.
"Hey, I'm Lucas Patrick," the man quickly said. "I know you just got here and don't really know anybody but if you want to get around or do anything, I'm here. I'm bored in the hotel, too."
To be certain, McCray knew who Lucas Patrick was. One of the unfortunate truths about life as an undrafted free agent is you're keenly aware of who you're competing against for a roster spot.
But that didn't seem to matter to Patrick, the affable, teddy-bearish Tennessean who a year earlier parlayed a tryout at Green Bay's rookie minicamp into a season-long stint on the team's practice squad.
McCray was floored. Where he grew up in Miami, it was every kid for himself. You take what you can and leave nothing behind, but that wasn't Patrick. He'd heard about McCray, a former hotel bellhop who punched his ticket back to the NFL through a stint with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League, and was inspired by his story.
As arduous as Patrick's own journey was to the NFL, he's always been willing to lend a hand or answer a question – even if it's for someone he's competing against for a job.
Maybe that's what's made the first half of the 2020 NFL season so sweet for McCray and others who know Patrick best. A top reserve for three seasons, Patrick has started all eight games on the Packers' offensive line this season. With 495 snaps played, the 27-year-old already has surpassed his workload from the past two seasons combined (415).
"He's got such a good head on his shoulders," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. "It's fun to see him develop as a super reliable guy. He was always a guy you felt pretty good about plugging in there. You knew the effort was always gonna be there. You knew the finish was gonna be there."
As diligent as he is welcoming, Patrick invested every minute of his quarantined offseason into his preparation for this season – going so far as to relocate equipment from his training facility, APEX Performance, into his garage during the heart of the lockdown to stay on schedule.
Finally parked in a consistent role, Patrick has begun to reap the rewards of perhaps his two defining qualities: unselfishness and drive.
"There's a lot of little things that go to show the type of person that he is," said APEX head trainer Jeron Mastrud, who's overseen Patrick's offseason the past two years. "He's a quality person, not just some football player out there."