MarkyMannn Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Strife doesn't weigh on McGahee BY JASON COLE jcole@herald.com Willis McGahee has this annoying habit during interviews. Or is it brilliant strategy? Whenever he is lost for words, McGahee quickly slips in the phrase, ''Ya know what I mean?'' In the space of an eight-minute conversation last week as Buffalo's new star running back talked about returning home to Miami to face the Dolphins today at 1 p.m. at Pro Player Stadium, he dropped it 23 times and tossed in another dozen abbreviated versions of ``Ya know?'' It is as if people should intuitively understand McGahee's struggle, such as what it is like to have your knee shattered like a piece of porcelain in the Fiesta Bowl almost two years ago. To sit in the University of Miami team bus afterward, the tears alternating between the personal sorrow of seeing your pro prospects plummet and the collective anger of having lost the national championship to Ohio State amid controversy. It is as if people should readily grasp the work you did in less than four full months just to be able to jog for NFL scouts and coaches before the 2003 draft. How you topped that off by still being a first-round draft pick. It is as if people should just get it when you say it is no big deal that you sat out your entire rookie season getting healthy, continued to sit the early part of this season and then finally broke through with a vengeance when you were allowed to play. SMART GAMBLE McGahee, the No. 23 overall pick in 2003, has started six of the past seven games for Buffalo. He is making Bills general manager Tom Donahoe's gamble on him look brilliant. In five of the starts, he has rushed for 100 yards or more. Last Sunday, he scored four touchdowns against Seattle and has 726 yards and seven TDs overall on 190 carries. He has turned Travis Henry, a guy who had more than 1,300 yards in each of the past two seasons, into a quickly fading memory. Ya know what I mean? Perhaps the point is that it is not so unbelievable when you really understand McGahee. When you get the point that he is not loaded down with complicated thoughts or internal strife. At least half a dozen people who know McGahee and some of the other former stars at UM say McGahee is as mentally tough as anyone they have met. ''To him, that's how you do it,'' Dolphins rookie lineman Vernon Carey said earlier this season. ``The thing about Willis is that he's really talented and he works really hard.'' The mental pain of his horrific injury against Ohio State was gone in about two days, McGahee said. He set forth to regain his form, just as he had earlier in his college career when he had another knee injury. If it was going to take a while, that would be fine. McGahee learned plenty about patience sitting the bench behind Clinton Portis and even, for a short time, Frank Gore at UM. Ya know what I mean? Waiting behind Henry was no big deal. McGahee knew he wasn't healthy last season. Even earlier this season, the rust still was on McGahee in training camp. It quickly is coming off. ALMOST THERE McGahee said he's about roughly ''95 percent'' of where he was before the injury. What's that other five percent? ''That long run, that 70-yard run, man,'' he said. ``It's gonna come. When it's gonna come, it's gonna come, you know what I mean?'' Based on McGahee's progress, likely pretty soon. ''For a guy who hasn't played much, he sees the field amazing,'' Dolphins defensive end David Bowens said. ``Most guys, when they're just breaking in, don't see all the blocks and how they're setting up. They'll be running an outside play and he already sees the cut back way on the backside.'' There also isn't any awe in McGahee. Earlier this season, he faced Baltimore and cornerback Deion Sanders. Sanders was McGahee's idol growing up. Was it fun to face Sanders? ''I would say . . . How do I say this? It was real good, buddy. It was real good watching him play because I always imagined myself just like him. I still got it in me,'' McGahee said. Did you talk to him? ''Nah, it ain't nothing like that,'' McGahee said, dismissing the notion of hero worship and then flattening it. Did he tackle you? ''Nah, he can't tackle me,'' McGahee said. EXPLAIN IT Finally, one reporter broke in and said, ``Honestly, no Willis, we have no idea what you mean. We've never played. Can you explain it to us? What's it like to be out there on the field?'' ``I can't. You can't explain it like that when you're standing out there on the field . . . Ya know what I mean? There was a slight hesitation before McGahee caught himself. ``I'm sorry about that, man.''
HtownBillsFan Posted December 5, 2004 Posted December 5, 2004 Its funny, after every home Bills game on the drive home we listen to the post game shows and we always laugh about how many times Willis says his now famous line "Ya Know What I Mean". In one interview we counted it 25 times!
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