Football’s McCullough fills big shoes in secondary

Football’s McCullough fills big shoes in secondary

Goodwin’s departure prompts strong safety to grow up in a
hurry

By Randy Satterburg

Daily Bruin Staff

In the start of his college career, sophomore strong safety
Abdul McCullough helped to revolutionize the way people describe
big hits.

It was the Bruins’ season opener against Tennessee, and after
serving his two-year sentence as the understudy to a pair of
NFL-bound safeties ­ Marvin Goodwin and Othello Henderson
­ McCullough eagerly awaited the opportunity to continue
UCLA’s tradition of hard hitters in the secondary.

So when he saw Tennessee running back Aaron Hayden freeze
directly in his path, just like a deer caught in the headlights of
an on-coming car, McCullough knew he had found his victim.

"I was blitzing and he tried to block me on a pass play but I
knocked the hell out of him," McCullough said. "I remember looking
down and seeing a snot bubble coming out of his nose."

Chalk up one snot bubble in the defensive stat sheets along with
the normal variety of de-cleaters, pancakes and bell-ringers that
we are more accustomed to seeing.

It’s no laughing matter to McCullough though ­ he takes
pride in knocking the snot out of opposing players. In fact, he
considers it more of a duty than a privilege to play a physical
style of football.

"A lot of that has to do with the attitude of coming here to
play in the UCLA secondary. James Washington, Carnell Lake, Eric
Turner ­ they all played that way," McCullough said. "It’s
like when you become the King of England or whatever, you just know
you have to be some feared powerful guy who everyone is supposed to
respect, so you try to do your best to earn that respect and show
you deserve it. If that means being a hitter or if that means being
a guy that’s going to get down and dirty and crawl to make a
tackle, I’m going to do it."

While he wants to continue the trend of good safeties coming
through UCLA, McCullough sees one trend he wants to put a stop to
­ the current UCLA losing streak. This is the first time he
has ever had a losing season in football and the ramifications have
seeped into his everyday life to the point that sometimes he feels
ashamed to be recognized as a football player.

But McCullough has always struggled to accept failure. In grade
school if he ever lost an argument he would go home immediately to
read up on the topic at hand and get the final word the next
day.

His quest for perfection is well documented by insiders on the
UCLA football team.

"Abdul McCullough is one of the most competitive players on this
football team," said UCLA head coach Terry Donahue. "He’s just one
of those guys who hates to lose, at anything."

Just how strong is his competitive drive?

McCullough issued a ban on the slaughter-rule that his friends
abided by when hotly contested Sega Football games got out of hand,
instead insisting that his opponent take all the lumps coming to
him.

And when he discovered that one particular team always recovered
its onside kicks in Bill Walsh’s Football ’94 he showed no mercy to
his friends who had not yet discovered the computer glitch.

That competitiveness carries over to the football field where
McCullough looks for any edge to get ahead.

"When you line up across from me you better be ready to play
because I’m going to come at you with everything I’ve got," he
says. "If I have to scratch or bite, if I have to give a little
underhand shot when you are down or twist a leg, I’m going to do it
just to help my team win."

McCullough’s commitment to winning even dictates his television
watching habits. After enduring hours of monotonous game film of
another disappointing loss, he stays up late at night to watch
Prime Ticket’s replay of that same game on television.

He watches out of appreciation for the game of football and to
further critique his own play, which he has yet to be satisfied
with even though he ranks second on the team in tackles.

Sometimes McCullough will be upset with himself after incomplete
passes if he wasn’t in the exact position of the field that a
particular coverage scheme calls for. He is the one who vocalizes
all the defensive checks so he is counted on to make the right
reads ­ but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

"I love being in control of everything playing safety,"
McCullough said. "That’s a big part of why I came to UCLA, because
I knew once I became the man, I’d get to do those things."

But with that extra responsibility comes additional
accountability. And while McCullough has not come under fire for
any individual transgressions, the entire team has been subject to
a whirlpool of criticism from fans and media alike that comes along
with a 2-6 start.

The potential for internal strife and demoralization loom large
on a team in this situation, but McCullough’s overbearing optimism
more than picks up the slack for all the non-believers. He’s
already ranting and raving about next year’s schedule which
includes a home game against Miami. And, he resembles a Hollywood
pitch-man the way he tries to sell you on the young and developing
talent that UCLA will return next year.

"This would be the perfect time for a lot of finger pointing but
I think we’ve done a good job as a team staying together,"
McCullough said. "I really like this team. I still believe in
us."