Gerald McCoy's 'Dream Come True...to Play For the Star' Crashes With Season-Ending Injury

Former Oklahoma great Gerald McCoy suffered a major career setback on Monday when he was injured in practice.

McCoy, 32, signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent this year and was looking forward to finishing his storied career on top.

Instead, he tore a quad tendon at training camp and will be lost for the entire 2020 season.

“I will remain the mentor I am to the young guys and do my part to make sure that this team goes where it needs to," McCoy said in a text message to ESPN’s Ed Werder. “As far as my mindset people deal with real life problems every day especially now with the state of our country.

“There is a lot of pain and heartache taking place right now that all our attention needs to go towards whether it is the pandemic or our fight for social justice. In retrospect what I’m dealing with is minimal compared to that. Therefore this is light work for me. Anybody who knows me knows I love a challenge. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! I will be back better. LETS GET IT!!”

McCoy has never played in a playoff game in nine years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or one with the Carolina Panthers, but his addition to the Cowboy defense was one of a handful of factors that made Dallas a strong postseason favorite.

McCoy told SI Sooners during a tumultuous offseason. That his career has been one of “ups and downs, but mostly ups.”

“Obviously you want some things to be different. You want to win a Super Bowl, you want to go to the playoffs. But you know what? Man, as you get older, you start to stop worry about stuff that – you know, stuff that matters, but then it doesn’t. You know? Like, how many people would dream to be in my shoes? To have an opportunity to play at the next level? Just to play? Just to be on a team? Just to experience training camp? Let alone be a four-time All-Pro with six Pro Bowls. You know? It’s not easy to do.”

McCoy is a six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle and a three-time first-team All Pro.

The Oklahoma City native was looking forward to starting a new chapter in his career with the team he grew up following.

“If you grew up in Oklahoma, as you know, if you’re not a Dallas Cowboys fan or (don’t) know somebody who’s a Dallas Cowboys fan, there’s something wrong with you,” McCoy said. “At some point in your life, you rooted for the Dallas Cowboys. If you didn’t, you knew someone who did. So to grow up watching them basically being Oklahoma’s NFL team – other than OU – this is a dream come true, man. This is excellent. To play for the star? Man, Jerry Jones is a hall of famer, and he’s put together a Grade A organization. They always have a great story. You can’t say enough about the Cowboys organization.

“As far as I go, I’m coming into my last few years in the league, and that urgency to make it to the next level, as far as the playoffs goes, is at peak level. I’ve dropped 20 pounds since last season. I’m just really locked in and focused and looking forward to this upcoming season — whenever we have it.”

McCoy said he had been working various aspects of his game. In addition to the weight he lost, he’s spent the offseason honing his playing technique.

“If you think that us being on quarantine is stopping me from training like a madman – nah,” he said. “I’m still social distancing. Not being around anybody. Not leaving the house. But there’s a little patch of grass right around the corner from my house that nobody goes to. I go there, work out, come home. I don’t go anywhere else. So I’m practicing social distancing. My family doesn’t leave. I leave, work out, come home. Then I have a gym in my house that I use.

“I have everything I need,” he said. “So nothing’s gonna stop me from being prepared to go. I want it to be like, ‘How’s this guy in this good of shape and we were in quarantine the whole time?’ That’s the kind of shock I want people to have when I show up for training camp or offseason or whatever it is.”