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New Orleans latest NFL stop for Fitch’s McGlynn
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Whenever New Orleans Saints guard Mike McGlynn gets back to Youngstown, he makes sure to visit Wedgewood pizza (“That’s my No. 1”), Handel’s ice cream (“There’s one down in Boca Raton and my wife and I drove 45 minutes to go there when we were in Fort Myers”) and Michael Alberini’s restaurant, among others.
“That’s the thing about coming home — I hit every spot and I gain about 10 pounds,” the Austintown Fitch High graduate said.
That’s where his new city comes in handy.
“It’s 98 degrees here and the humidity is like 110, 115,” he said, speaking by phone on Monday night. “We practiced in it yesterday for an hour and a half. I have no problems losing weight down here.”
McGlynn (6-4, 325) signed with the Saints in May after spending last season in Kansas City, where he started 13 games and helped the Chiefs finish 9-7. New Orleans is his fifth NFL team since being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fourth round of the 2008 draft.
After playing just three games in his first two seasons, he had a breakout year in 2010, appearing in 16 games for the Eagles with 14 starts. From there, he played one season with the Bengals (seven games, four starts) and two with the Colts (31 games, 30 starts) before heading to Kansas City last season.
“It’s definitely challenging [to move around] because you’d like to sit down and get some roots and stay with a team for multiple years, but that’s not how my career has gone,” he said. “I’m just happy I’m still playing. If you had told me 12 years ago when I was at Fitch that I’d be starting my eighth year in the NFL, I’d have told you you were a liar.
“I’ve been really lucky to stay healthy and go out and play and play well.”
Still, moving gets more difficult each year. He and his wife have two young children — a 5-year-old daughter, Sydney, and a 3-year-old son, Cole — and he had to leave them back at his home in Orlando for training camp.
“That’s one of the things people don’t really notice,” he said. “Just having to hear my daughter crying because her daddy isn’t back home tucking her into bed at night, it’s tough to deal with. But it’s a small thing for now. Once they get through this year, they won’t remember it. It’ll be back to normal.”
Other than the heat, McGlynn doesn’t know much about New Orleans yet — “I noticed they’ve got open container laws here; that’s different” — but said he appreciates getting the chance to live in different cities.
“That’s one really cool thing about the NFL experience,” he said. “A lot of people don’t get that chance. I can say, ‘Hey, I lived there,’ even if it was just for one year.”
Youngstown will always be his hometown, but McGlynn is happy to be a visitor now, instead of a resident.
“I love everything about back home, but I just hated the winters,” he said. “I wanted to get to a warm climate and just enjoy the sunshine and the palm trees. If I want to go to the beach, it’s an hour and a half instead of a 15-hour drive.
“I was home about two months ago and the potholes back home, it’s like a mine field. That’s one thing I won’t miss.”
He does miss the food, though. And the people.
“Make sure you tell the Fitch Falcons that I’m wishing them good luck this year,” he said. “Throughout my career, there have been so many people following me and supporting me back home. I think that’s a big reason why I’m still playing — for my family and friends, to make them proud.
“This is an experience not a whole lot of people get to have. It’s awesome and I want to thank everybody for the support.”