STHS grad to start for Jets
By Darryl Slater, Star-Ledger
South Lake Tahoe is a charming place. But it loses a great deal of appeal when you spend days pouring concrete, as Garrett McIntyre did six years ago.
McIntyre was still seeking his big break in professional football in 2007, after he finished his first season with the Arena Football League’s San Jose SaberCats. He went undrafted in 2006, signed with Seattle, bounced in the preseason to Arizona, then Tennessee, and landed in the AFL, one of the sport’s last stops before a player accepts a 9-to-5 life.
Garrett McIntyre should see plenty of playing time with the Jets this season. Photo/William Perlman/Star-Ledger
McIntyre majored in construction management at Fresno State, and as he began to ponder his real world options, he decided to pour foundations back home. He hated it.
“It made me not want to get a real job,” he said. “Working with concrete is not fun, man. It is not.”
The Jets gave McIntyre a chance in 2011, signing him to a three-year, $1.41 million contract, with a $15,000 signing bonus. He made the team and has stuck, with three starts in 2011 and four in 2012, when he made 3½ sacks.
With rush outside linebacker Quinton Coples now sidelined indefinitely because of a right ankle injury, McIntyre is getting another chance in a career that he refused to let die.