Roughrider L.J. McCray choosing hope over hate

L.J. McCray is as fierce as they come on the football field, but he's also learned to not let anger dictate his life.

The 28-year-oldSaskatchewan Roughriders defensive back has been one of the team's most important newcomers this season.

To find out more about his journey through life and football, CBC's Peter Mills spoke to McCray about the importance of his hometown, a tragedy that shaped his lifeand his amazing connection to Saskatchewan.

Not-so-little James

James Oneil McCray II was born June 18, 1991.

So how did he end up with L.J.?

"Little James," McCray said. "I'm named after my father so they thought it would be easier to call me Little James instead of saying, 'Junior! James Junior!' L.J. kind of stuck with me."

Despite being called L.J. his entire life, when McCray signed with the San Francisco 49ers in 2014 he preferred to go by James for one reason.

"It was just important to remind people that I'm the second because a lot of people forget," he said. "It was just a tribute to my family, to my father."

"He felt really good, especially because I was playing for his favourite team the 49ersso yeah, it was great."

There's no place like home

McCray was born in Georgetown, S.C., but his family moved to Charlotte, N.C., when he was five years old.

"Just better opportunity from where we were from. [Georgetown] was really just projects and nothing really going on," McCray said. "[His parents] just wanted to give us a better opportunity in life."

His father and mother both found better careers in Charlotte and McCray found a better place to grow up.

In 2017, the Charlotte Observer described McCray as being "as local to Charlotte as a tomato at an uptown farmer's market."

"I've never even heard that," McCray said, laughing. "I guess that's pretty good."

L.J. found a long-lasting social network in Charlotte. And, of course, football.

"It was great. [I] still have a lot of friends to this day that I'm staying in contact with through football," he said. "Football has really been a great part of my life ... So many memories, so many great people that I still get to see when I go home."

From a better life to a tragic event

Five years after the move to Charlotte, L.J. was changedforever when his older sister died.

"Honestly at first it kind of influenced me in a bad way," McCray said. "I didn't know how to take it. I was young and that was the biggest connection in my life other than my mother my father."

He said his sister played a big part in raising him.

"While my parents worked, she taught me how to read, how to write, things I can never forget," he said. "So at first it bothered me a lot. I didn't know how to take it but she became my strength."

McCray said her death taught hima lot of life lessons.

"As I got older, I realized that me getting in trouble and being mad at the world wasn't going to change the fact that she was gone. It wasn't going to change the fact that I still had my own life to live," McCray said. "With the help of my mother, it just helped me stay focused on my goals and what I want to accomplish in life, then just give all the thanks to her and God when I'm when I'm done. That's what I continue to do every day."

Giving back

One of the ways McCray has honoured his sister's legacy is giving back to his community. A perfect example is something Jamelle Cuthbertson shared on Facebook in 2017:

McCray said he remembers that day and he was inspired to do it for a few reasons.

"I understand how tough it is when you come up in an area, in a community where there's not much opportunity," he said. "Sports is important but when you're living like that, it's not the most important thing. So if it comes down between a meal and football cleats, you pretty much know which way you're going to go."

He said it's important for people who get out of tough situations to help others still in them.

"It was very important for me to make sure those guys had it, whether they won a state championship or not. I just wanted to make sure that they had it because we had it to give. I wanted to make sure that they got it and they felt appreciated, they felt like people cared because I care."

'A mind opener'

McCrays time at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., is aperfect example of his humble beginnings.

Catawba plays football in NCAA Division II, which is described like this on the NCAA website: "Division II student-athletes are just as competitive and in many cases just as skilled as their Division I counterparts, but institutions in Division II generally don't have the financial resources to devote to their athletics programs."

Football programs like Catawba might still be full of great athletes, but they don't receive anywhere near the same about media attention and that often means they also get overlooked by professional scouts. It certainly wasn't what McCray dreamed of doing coming out of high school.

"It was a mind-opener," he said. "It was definitely something that I didn't want at first but that I needed ... I felt like I was entitled and I was mad at the world [because] I didn't get the scholarships that I wanted and that I deserved. I kind of went to Catawba with the wrong mindset."

Luckily for McCray, he found someone to help him appreciate the opportunity he had at Catawba.

"It took for my coach Bob Lancaster to open my eyes and tell me that, 'Hey, you're here. So you can cry about where you're supposed to be, where you want to be, but right now you're here so what you going to do about it?' " McCray said.

"So I kind of manned up and I believe Catawba was the best thing that could have happened to me: being in that small, controlled environment around people who I really consider family and who really cared about me getting my degree as opposed to just playing football."

It's a small world after all

McCray didn't take his time at Catawba for granted and it paid off when he was signed by the San Francisco 49ers.

Unfortunately, he spent the next four years dealing with injuries, having surgeryand bouncingaround the NFL.

"I was in Houston training, was just getting back into the groove of things, and I wasn't getting any calls from any NFL teams," McCray said. "We knew something was going to happen eventually and then I received a call from the GM up here and it was all she wrote. I didn't really care that it was Canada, I didn't care what team it was, I was just blessed for the opportunity to still be playing this game."

If you haven't already pieced it together, McCray's coach Bob Lancaster is the son of former Roughriders quarterback and CFL Hall of Famer Ron Lancaster. The first time McCray walked up to Mosaic Stadium, he saw a giant statue of the Little General.

"I lost my mind because my coach [Bob Lancaster] didn't prepare me for that," he said. "He told us about his dad, but ... he didn't tell us he was that great of a guy, he was that great of a player, coach, whatever. He was everything about football so when I saw the statue I lost it. I took a picture immediately. I couldn't believe he didn't tell me that his dad was this big of a name."

I see pride, I see power

McCray also took time to answer some lighthearted questions, including his love for memes, the TV show Martin, and much more:

This interview has been edited and condensed.

The Roughriders take on the Winnipeg Blue Bombers at Mosaic Stadium in the West Final on Sunday, Nov. 17. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. CST.

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