Column: For former UCLA football hero Eric McNeal, it’s always 8:47
He didn’t get famous. He didn’t get rich. He didn’t even get an easy ride home; he had to walk several miles through darkened Pasadena streets to find a friend’s car.
His jersey from that day is hanging in a closet wrapped in dry-cleaner plastic. His gloves and sweatband are stuffed in the back of a drawer. He doesn’t have the football because, after tipping and intercepting and waving it, he dropped it.
Ten years after making one of the biggest impact plays in the history of the USC-UCLA football rivalry, former Bruins linebacker Eric McNeal knows that most people have forgotten.
But he’s fine, because he knows one group that hasn’t.
The Trojans haven’t forgotten. The Trojans will never forget. And the Bruin loves it.
“To make one play like that, in a game like that, and have it knock USC out of a national championship?’’ McNeal says brightly. “I hate USC, and even if some people don’t remember, enough do.’’
McNeal, 32, resides in Long Beach and works for his father’s oil pump business. His football career was finished less than a month after the interception. He never won another game, never wore another uniform, never made a penny off a moment that might have cost USC millions, and never worries about any of it.
“I’m good,’’ he says. “We dominated ‘SC when nobody thought we had a chance, and that’s all that matters.’’
That’s the charm of this ageless rivalry, right? It’s not about reaping rewards. It’s not about finding lasting fame. It’s only about winning the game.
It’s a nationally renown brawl that never really leaves the neighborhood. Its greatest heroes are often unknown outside Southern California, its greatest moments are remembered only for how they contributed to a final score, and the fact that McNeal was a senior who had started only one game in his four-year UCLA career makes that moment fit perfectly.
“I don’t need anybody to know who I am,’’ McNeal says. “Because I helped us win.’’
They won on that December day in 2006 with perhaps the most infamous score in the rivalry’s 85-game history, a score so enduring it has even become a running joke.
What is UCLA’s favorite time of day? It’s 8:47, because that’s 13 to 9.
USC entered the game ranked No. 2 in the nation and one win from playing in a Bowl Championship Series title game in which the Trojans probably would have dominated Ohio State — as Florida did — for its third national title in four years.
UCLA entered the game with a 6-5 record and memories of a 66-19 beating from USC the previous season.
It wasn’t supposed to be a contest, but rather another USC coronation, except UCLA’s defense dominated until the Trojans finally put together a late drive that began at their 28-yard line and wound up at the Bruins’ 19 line with 1 minute 15 seconds to play.
USC quarterback John David Booty throws an interception to UCLA outside linebacker Eric McNeal in the final minute of the game on Dec. 2, 2006.
This columnist was standing on the Rose Bowl sideline during the drive, and there was no question USC was going to score and win. The Trojans had the momentum. They were rolling downhill. The stories were already being written.
Until McNeal made Bruins history by leaping, tipping and diving to intercept a John David Booty pass at the UCLA 20.
The Rose Bowl was never louder. The ramifications of one play in this rivalry were never greater. And the origins of a winning play were never more odd.
USC folks have long claimed that McNeal made the play only because he was out of position, a lost linebacker who lucked into magic. McNeal maintains that he was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing, only he was doing it an instant behind schedule, and that instant changed everything.
“It was a blitz off the edge, but I came on the blitz late,’’ he says. “I delayed because I was checking the motion man, and when I looked back, they had already snapped the ball.’’
As he tardily charged on that blitz, that ball suddenly appeared above his head, and the former high school basketball player leaped to tip it. But it wasn’t about that tip. It was about what happened next, when he spun, lunged and grabbed the ball before it hit the ground. The tip was great, but if he doesn’t make the interception, USC has another down to continue the drive.
“The first thing I thought when I cradled the ball was, ‘game over,’’’ he says. “I just kept thinking, ‘game over, game over.’’’
Little did he know that for him, it would soon be career over. He was not drafted but had a couple of NFL tryouts. Nothing worked out. He graduated with a history degree and began a working career that included a stint as as forklift driver before joining his father.
McNeal is rarely recognized around town, and usually talks about the play only if a UCLA fan asks about it. Sometimes he’ll mention it to fans when leaving the Rose Bowl and winds up with a free meal. He might eventually get a “13-9’’ tattoo, but he hasn’t gotten around to it yet.
He’ll be on the sideline Saturday, but he has never officially met Coach Jim Mora nor ever spoken to a UCLA team before this annual game. Somebody should ask him. Eric McNeal might not mention it much the rest of the year, but this week his story needs to be heard.
“I don’t care what happened during the season before this game,’’ he says. “Our victory showed it’s not about records, it’s about who believes in themselves.’’
A year after that 2006 game, then-USC coach Pete Carroll was asked about the play. His answer was pure Pete.
“Of course I remember the play,’’ Carroll said. “But what was his name again?’’
Ah, but he knows. Every Trojan knows. Standing across town in the shadows, Eric McNeal smiles.
Get more of Bill Plaschke’s work and follow him on Twitter @BillPlaschke
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