Spartans Guard Chris MAGNUS McDonald is Ready To: "Smack Some Heads!"

Getting that first opportunity to start on a Big Ten football team can be overwhelming. That is for most people. For Chris McDonald from Sterling Heights, it

Getting that first opportunity to start on a Big Ten football team can be overwhelming. That is for most people. For Chris McDonald from Sterling Heights, it is more a sense of relief. “I had no doubts of what I wanted to do when I came here. I just love playing football and I am willing to do whatever it takes to do it.”

 

McDonald plays guard on the Spartans revamped offensive line and for this red shirt sophomore it is a game that comes naturally. Nicknamed “Magnus” for his strength in the weight room, he is a young man that his teammates knew would find his way to the starting line up. “He isn’t going to be good, he is going to be great. Magnus is so strong and moves real well. He is going to be really, really good,” was how former Spartan right tackle Jesse Miller described him.

 

Praise from former teammates and current teammates is great, but McDonald is more comfortable talking about the games than himself. “We are just having fun this year as a line. We have to be the closest group on the team. We are having cookouts as an offensive line and are really comfortable as a unit off the field so it is natural on it.”

 

That may not seem like a lot, but it is. Last year’s offensive line was not athletic, nor was it close in its entirety. This year they are changing all of that and it should pay big dividends. “You have to trust your guys. Outside of football we hang out all the time,” was McDonald’s sentiment for his fellow linemen.

 

So how did the highly competitive yet humble McDonald handle not playing for two years? “I played against the starting defense every day on the scout team. I was going against our best defenders. It made me a lot better. Sure, I would have loved playing, but it made me better and I wouldn’t trade it.”

 

Make no mistake. McDonald is a gentleman and truly one of the good guys. Magnus is also a fierce competitor that uses his strength to push people around and manhandle them like fifty-pound bags of dog food. Watch him on the field when Magnus plays, and it is hard to reconcile that he is Chris off of the field where kids are given attention and care. It is clear when watching him that he loves the entire experience of being a Big Time football player.

 

His strength is certainly a blessing, but at this level he will have to learn that everyone is strong and he has to be committed to technique also. He is doing that under the incredible tutelage of Dan Roushar who is one of the best OL coaches in the nation. Roushar has brought him along and from the point he arrived as a recruit until now, Roushar has him ready for big things.

 

So after the spring game, look for the mammoth blonde-headed monster you just saw playing. On the field he is Magnus. Off of it, the wide beaming smile will let you know he is Chris.

 

So, what will finally running out of that tunnel in the fall knowing he is going to play mean to him? “I’ll probably be nervous for the first play. On the second play I will be ready to smack some heads.” Big Ten meet Magnus! Spartan Nation meet Chris.