Jamie McGourty: Will Work For Food
Mary-Ann Williams
Monday August 5, 2002
Not because he isn’t strong enough. Two sacks for an LB isn’t a bad year, especially when he missed the first four games. Not because he isn’t tough enough. This season he earned 25.5 tackles. And not because he doesn’t play well. His stats show 11 touchdowns. No, the talent is obvious. What’s most interesting, though, is Jamie’s travels as he maneuvered his way from Pop Warner to the 2002 Central Division Champion team.
 Jamie McGourty Image courtesy of Drew Kennedy |
“I’ll tell you when it was, exactly. It was June 22, 1992. Sunday. Father’s Day. But who remembers that day?” said Jamie, laughing. “I had a cast on the whole right side of my body for the whole summer. I got both the casts off about a week before the season started and I just jumped right into it. I wasn’t nearly as conditioned as I should have been.”
His dreams of a scholarship melted away as the scouts who’d taken interest in him the previous year wandered on to other athletes during Jamie’s recovery time. Instead of the more prestigious Boston College, Jamie settled for the Division II Springfield College. He made the best of the bad break, taking honors throughout his four years of play. His success at the college-level secured him an agent, and a hand full of possibilities he’d thought long gone.
“I had a few workouts in the NFL,” said Jamie. “I worked out for the New England Patriots. I went to the pro-day at Boston College and drew a little interest there. I went down to New Orleans and worked out with the Saints. Nothing came out of it, though.”
The agent passed Jamie’s information on to Coach Mike Dailey in Albany, New York, in 1998. “I figured I’d hear something (from the NFL) as a free-agent, but nothing happened so I went up to Albany on a two-day waiver. I was there for about three weeks when he told me, ‘We don’t have the roster space.’”
Instead of packing up and going home, Jamie offered to stick with the team non-gratis in the hopes that something would open up. “Coach Dailey was giving me a couple of bucks out of his own pocket to get food and things like that.”
His dedication paid off. Coach Dailey signed Jamie to the practice squad three weeks into the season, where he remained throughout 1998. He stayed with Albany for 1999, bouncing back and forth from active to inactive to IR, playing in three games and landing him an ArenaBowl ring.
“I have a ring,” he said. “It means a lot to me because I worked hard for it. It doesn’t mean as much to me as if I was actually playing, like right now. That’s why I want this one bad. So that I can have a ring that actually means something to me.”
The following season Jamie faced the same situation as the two previous years. He would have to suit up and fight for a spot among Dailey’s veteran players, the guys that had just won an ArenaBowl Championship. Unless Jamie could beat out those players, he would once again sit on the sidelines.
“Coach Dailey is a loyal coach,” said Jamie. “And he had his guys. So I knew the situation, and so I asked him to release me. I instantly called Coach (Mike) Hohensee because he was the offensive coordinator in Albany in ’98 so I was familiar with him.”
Coach Hohensee had moved on to coach the New England SeaWolves, and unfortunately, already had a full roster. He suggested that Jamie stay in shape, and just be ready. Again, Jamie waited for a call. He bided his time, making money as a bartender in Boston and working out when time allowed. Finally, with a little ingenuity, the call came in the third week of the season.
“I got a call from (Assistant) Coach (Brent) Winter,” said Jamie. “They called information in Springfield, Mass, which is where I went to school. And I had like a fourth cousin there who I don’t even know. They got him, and he knew what I did through the family and everything, and he said he’d try to relay the message.” The message passed from the cousin to his mother who then passed it on to her cousin, Jamie’s grandmother. She called Jamie’s mother, who finally contacted Jamie at a friend’s house in Boston where he was staying.
Thankfully, no one dropped the ball. Jamie was signed that week. After two years bouncing back and forth from the practice squad, Jamie finally landed a spot on the roster, and eventually made the starting rotation. When the SeaWolves moved to Toronto the following year, Jamie went too, but Hohensee kept Jamie in mind when he moved to Chicago.
“Jamie’s a good kid,” said Coach Hohensee. “He’s a hard worker and I knew he’d be good for the team.”
Now that Jamie’s found his place with the Rush, he wants to stays there. He spent the off-season last year working with a trainer to bulk up and get stronger. He faces the free-agency draft at the end of this year, but he’s not looking to leave anytime soon.
“I want to stay in Chicago. I love it here. I love the coaches. I think I’ve established myself here with the fans, with the coaches, the office, everybody. I’m comfortable here. Unfortunately, in this day and age, you want to be taken care of as far as what you do. I’m not looking to become rich but I feel like I bring a lot to the table here, on both sides of the ball and special teams. I think they value me as a player and a person off the field.
“This is the third organization I’ve been a part of, and I think it’s top-notch. The other two teams I was on you never saw the front office people at all. They weren’t involved in any aspect at all. And I got here and it’s almost like a family, really.”
Whether Jamie stays in Chicago or not, you know he’ll be just fine. His attitude has gotten him this far, and it will no doubt carry him far wherever he ends up next.
Mary-Ann Williams lives in Chicagoland with her four children, Carter, Jackson, Jeremy, and Riley Jade. As a freelance writer, she`s written articles for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Daily Herald. She also serves as editor of the AFL-side of Arenafan Online, and covers the Chicago Rush.
