OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -An electrifying 77-yard run couldn’t erase the frustration Willis McGahee has experienced during an injury-filled season in which he’s gone from a Pro Bowl running back to a contributing member of a three-man attack.
McGahee’s pivotal touchdown Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys did, however, prove he still has the talent to accumulate significant yardage with the football in his hand.
McGahee ran for 1,207 yards last season as the primary ball carrier for the Baltimore Ravens. This season he’s got only 647 yards rushing and is sharing the load with Le’Ron McClain and Ray Rice.
Rib, knee and ankle injuries have slowed down McGahee and forced him to miss three games. He also lost his starting job to the Pro Bowl-bound McClain, who had eight carries as a rookie fullback last year.
“This is a disappointing season, but you can’t cry about it,” McGahee said. “Things happen. You get injured and you can’t do anything about it.”
boys. The Ravens were nursing a 19-17 lead with 3:54 left when McGahee took a handoff, burst up the middle and sprinted down the center of the field into the end zone.
When he reached the sideline, McGahee received hugs and high-fives from virtually every one of his teammates, many of whom know just how difficult this season has been for the former University of Miami star and first-round pick of the Buffalo Bills.
“We loved it,” center Jason Brown said. “We knew that Willis was going to break out sooner or later, but for it to happen right there at the time we needed it, it was amazing.”
McClain said, “I was so happy for him. I hugged him on the sideline, telling coach (John) Harbaugh and everybody else that it was a great run.”
If timing is everything, then McGahee really couldn’t have picked a better moment for his longest run of his five-year NFL career.
“It was at the right time, right place: Under the lights when we’re the only teams playing on Saturday night,” McGahee said. “I just stepped up when my number was called and the guys did a great job blocking. The hole was there and I just took it.”
He was appreciative of the outpouring of love he received from his teammates, and well aware of why it was bestowed upon him.
“Everybody was happy for me because my season hasn’t been great, whatsoever,” he said. “They knew I could do it, but the fact is, I finally went out there and did it.”
Not that McGahee ever had any doubt.
“I’m always going to be Willis and have that confidence,” he said. “It just gives me some leverage to go out there and play even harder. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
McGahee deserves credit for the manner in which he has dealt with the demotion and decreased playing time. Instead of complaining to teammates or the media, he has accepted his role and is determined to make the best of it.
“Willis has handled the whole season pretty well,” Harbaugh said. “He’s been disappointed because things haven’t worked out, I’m sure, the way he planned going in as far as number of carries and yards and all those measurable things. But to me, the real measurable thing is the character that he’s expressed through this whole deal. He’s continued to work through it.”
When the Ravens got McGahee from the Bills in March 2007, they signed him to a five-year contract plus two option years worth about $40.1 million. That’s a lot of money to pay for one-third of a three-headed backfield, so there is a chance the Ravens will ask the 27-year-old to take a cut in salary in 2009.
“Right now we’re still in this season and we can’t talk about next season until next year comes,” McGahee said. “I would love to be back here, but this is a business. So if it happens, it happens.”
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