6 minute read
Ray Ray McCloud III
Q. Tell everyone who you are and what you do.
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A. I am Ray-Ray McCloud III and I have lead the NFL in punt return yards for the last two years. I am a wide receiver and have just completed playing the last two years with the Pittsburgh Steelers and now am ready to start the new season with the San Francisco 49ers!
Q. Well, tell everybody what made you want to pursue a career in football?
A. I was born into it. I have two little brothers, one is about to go to Clemson where I attended, the other one is a quarterback at Arizona. And I had a cousin that went to Georgia, a cousin that went to Furman, a cousin that went to Arizona a few years ago. So, it’s just in the family. My dad went to Arkansas as a Razorback. It’s deep in my blood.
Q. Well, how was that journey getting into football?
A. Getting into it was the easy part, but maintaining, being number one in everything I do was the hard part. It wasn’t hard when it came to game day, but practicing was and my dad made sure he made it hard for me, my offseason, always. I remember when I was a kid, me and my brother, he used to make us run home from a Publix that was a little way from the house. And every day we would come from school or from practice, we would jog home and he would sit there and go five miles out to watch us run. And just remembering those little things like that, now I’m like that’s what made us different. We left practice got home at 7:30, 8, and then had to run, jog home. Just that little thing right there is the dedication. He made sure we had installed in us when the time came, and we had to go out on our own.
Q. So, what positions did you play besides running back?
A. Honestly, everything. But as I got older and I separated myself and found out what I really wanted to do, I played quarterback, receiver, and running back. And that was to go to college for. I was the number one or number two athlete coming out of my class of running back. So, they considered me an athlete on paper, and I chose what I wanted to do, and I chose receiver because I want the ball in my hands.
Q. What got you to the level that culminated into what we saw this year?
A. Well, off the field, I thought was for me coming into the league what I needed to focus on the most, from eating habits, just little things off the field. On the field I was ready, talent level was ready. Obviously, you can always get physically better. But for me, coming to the league, was one reason I left college early to go to NFL, to have someone, to have a vet to follow, to have mentors to watch and learn from. So, when I got to the league, I knew I had to start special teams because that was the one that was big on my resume in college. That was one of the reasons I got drafted, because of special teams. So, I knew if I took special teams a little seriously, I’d have an opportunity to show my talent as a receiver that I didn’t get to do much of in college. Because we were so powerful, it was like 21-0 in the first eight minutes of the game, so everybody kind of sat down. And then playing running back my whole life, I needed to work every single day. I knew that I just needed reps. You get better as you get more reps. And luckily, God blessed me with the talent to be able to do that off the strength of my talent because I never really had a receivers coach until I got to NFL.
Sweeney helped me with, my mentality of treating every rep, if it’s practice or when you home by yourself catching punts or kickoff returns. Close your eyes before the ball is kicked and picture 85,000 people in the stands. Every time it’s the fourth quarter, we need a big play take. Take every rep like game rep. And I started doing that every practice, every game. Not even every practice, every scrimmage we had. And I think that bettered my game and took my game to the next level of being consistent. Because that was another thing that I needed to work on, being consistent from a team standpoint.
Q. What was this year like with everything against the Steelers?
A. Mostly for me, it was going into the seasons, I knew my role. I was the kick receiver, when my number was called, it was making plays. A lot of times that was my plan going in when I did go on offense. But I just control what I controlled, and really took that consideration every day.
Every day at practice was game day for me. Even with the team, even when we’re losing, whether we win or lose, it was always the same in the locker room because the coach is saying, “You had your high, you had your lows and that’s part of the season.” For me, I try to keep that out of where my laser focus because that’s something that I can’t control. I control what I’m doing, so when my number is called, my job is to execute it.
Q. Let’s talk about your nonprofit?
A. It was more of empowering student-athletes with the education side of it. Because for me, I have a sleeping disorder and ADHD, so those two don’t mesh well together. I graduated with a 4.5. I wasn’t naturally smart, and teachers and I used to bump heads because I’d just fall asleep. But it wasn’t me being disrespectful, it was because I really can’t stay up. And I know, there are kids out there that are not aware of what they have going on and can’t focus because of ADHD, or probably do have a sleeping disorder as well and don’t know that they do.
I didn’t know that I did until my sophomore year of college. I got it checked my first year in NFL. It’s called hypersomnia. I want to empower student-athletes to take education more seriously because I had to buckle down a little harder than other people because of my disorders. And then mentally, when everybody is asking you about something, you can’t control it, mentally it gets to you. So, that’s just the mental health aspect of it, and everything else.
Q. Congrats on fatherhood. How is that experience so far being a dad?
A. It’s been really fun, honestly. I’m in the stage where I get night shifts. He’s asleep all day, up all night. Four in the morning he wants to watch TV. It’s been fun, though. Luckily, I’m a night owl too so it’s not affecting me too badly. But it’s been really fun and motivating.
Q. Tell everybody where they can follow you?
A. I’m on everything. Instagram @Ray Ray McCloud lll. TikTok. I think rm3 or Ray Ray McCloud. Twitter rm3_. Facebook Ray Ray McCloud lll. Everything is usually Ray Ray McCloud lll or rm3.
