Toby McBride Refused to Sign, Giving Him Another Chance to Shine
Defensive end enjoys each day he is back on the field
He had the paper in hand. All he had to do was add his signature.
His football career at Colorado State would be finished via a medical waiver. But for some reason -- against the advice of a host of really solid reasons -- Toby McBride held off. He was 99 percent sure his football days were behind him. His back was giving him fits, and he had a future life to look forward too. The program was in the middle of a coaching change, too.
There were a lot of reasons to walk away. Still, the pen never moved.
“I was ready to retire. I had my senior day, and I took the pictures, did the walk, did everything and my family was ready, all that stuff,” McBride said. “But something in the back of my mind told me, even though I was planning on medically retiring, I never signed the paper work. They gave it to me, I sat on it, and I said, it’s not going to matter if I sign it now or six months from now, I’m just going to -- just in case --be careful with it and didn’t sign it.”
Then Steve Addazio came to visit Toby, his brother, Trey and the entire McBride family, and found a way to expand the one percent which remained open in Toby’s mind.
It has been six years since Toby first put on a Colorado State uniform. He did so as a true freshman, playing along the defensive line. He didn’t start a game in the 2016 season until the final one – the Idaho Potato Bowl – but he led the defensive front in tackles with 32, and the team in sacks, with 4.0. He did so with brute strength and heart. He played with passion. He used all the grit he built up from being a three-time state wrestling champion into his craft, transforming his ability to use his hips into proper technique to gain leverage. His hands, when he put them on an offensive linemen, were like vice grips. There was nothing but promise in his future.
Then the back issues started to flare up. He was limited to just four games in 2017, then sat out the entire 2018 campaign as it lingered. Working with a new strength and conditioning staff, Toby found a way to strengthen everything around the injury and limit the amount of pain he experienced at practice and in games, with his reps being cut down to help save wear and tear. By now, Trey was on the team, and in 2019, he came back and made it through half of a season, one where he still had two sacks and five tackles for loss.
The thing was, when Toby was on the field, the team was better. They took on his heart and soul, because he gave everything he had. He just wasn’t sure he could give any more.
And the paperwork was always there, just waiting for him to sign his name. His career was basically written off, which came as a surprise to Scott Patchan. That is not the Toby McBride he met, but then he heard the stories.
He’s even more impressed.
“I know the bad-ass Toby McBride, holds down the five technique,” Patchan said. “When I came here, Toby was a nose. Toby was like 20 pounds heavier and he was not moving on double teams or combo blocks inside, and I was like, this guy is unreal. He’s laying solid technique and he’s not giving up an inch. He was a bad ass when I first got here. I was like, I want to hang around you more. I want to pick your brain, I want to learn about Colorado State. Honestly, all the rivalry stuff, I went straight to Toby. A lot of the understanding of the rivalry trophies and all that, I went straight to Toby.
“Then you learn and you understand and how all the injuries and how they add up. I’ve been through a couple of knee surgeries, so I understand how difficult this sport can be as far as the wear and tear goes. When I saw him when I first got here, electric guy. Then I hear about everything that happened, and now Coach Addazio has helped him return to that guy who can play 50-60s snaps a game. That’s coach Addazio’s magic. How he does it is how he does it.”
The trip to Fort Morgan was to deliver one important message: Addazio wanted the McBride brothers on his team. But Toby had a list of questions before he would give an answer. He wanted to know the plan for managing him and his injury history. He also wanted to see some doctors he hadn’t been able to meet with in the past. He wanted to know if he continued to play, would it do further damage to his back.
To that point, the strength and conditioning plan was helping him manage the pain, but not taking it completely away. And he’s still on that plan to this day. But the doctors he wanted to see, Addazio made that happen. And they were specialists, and they provided he with an alternative solution, on that required a minimally invasive procedure which does allow him to play pain free.
“Coach Addazio followed through on every single one of his promises and then some,” Toby said. “Him managing me was great.”
His practice reps are cut down, and his game reps are up. The coaching staff trusts him to not take a day off because he wants to, because they understand Toby isn’t wired that way. He wants to practice. He feels he needs to practice. So when the coaches keep an eye on him, it’s to make sure he doesn’t go too far.
He wants to take at least half of the practice reps, but when Addazio stares him down and gives him a look, he knows it is time to leave the field. There, he takes mental reps.
Honestly, I think he’s kind of a miracle. I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I just know today I’m glad he’s on our team, then we take it day by day.Steve Addazio
Addazio loves having Toby on his team, but he does so through cautious eyes.
“Toby McBride is one tough sucker. He’s got some real injuries that have occurred over the course of his career, and he plays through that,” Addazio said. “He is relentless; he loves football. He’s really one of the better leaders on this football team. Players respect him. When he speaks, they listen. He’s extremely explosive.
“I think there are some injury deficiencies there that he has to cope with, and we try to work with him on. Honestly, I think he’s kind of a miracle. I don’t know what tomorrow brings. I just know today I’m glad he’s on our team, then we take it day by day. Quite frankly, we’re very careful with what we do with Toby. At some point, maybe he gets to the point where it mounts on him. But right now, I can tell you he’s the best leader on our team, he’s one of the toughest kids in this program and he has NFL capabilities. But it’s day to day, and I’m just glad today he’s in a good spot.”
All of what they’re doing allows Toby to play full out on Saturdays, to be “unleased,” is the wording he chose. Addazio has a point, because Toby had to miss the season opener, but he was back in the starting lineup against Vanderbilt. He produced a career-matching six tackles, including a sack. People my wonder what his career may have looked like had he stayed completely healthy, but for now, Toby is just focused on the next game.
With good reason, because Saturday’s contest felt like a lifetime of waiting after just four games a season prior, only three of which he could play.
“When I went out there Saturday night, I felt great,” he said. “Nothing was standing in my way, making plays and having fun with it. Every time you make a play, it’s like a drug. I just want to keep making another one.”
He would have missed it, had he signed those papers. He had every reason to, and they were all good. At least they were at the time.
Now he’s enjoying the rebirth of his football career, truly honored to be selected one of the team’s captains for the season. The players around him respect him, and his energy surges through the rest of the team. It’s infectious.
That energy was part of the reason Patchan said he wanted to come back. His return, as well as that of Manny Jones and Ellison Hubbard made Toby want to come back, too.
The group is like an old married couple, and they may spend more time together anyhow. As fun as games are, being round those people make it all so much better.
“I would not be here if those guys weren’t here. Coming to the building every day, and enjoy the guys you grind with and do everything day in, day out with, it just makes everything more fun,” Toby said. “If I was in here with a bunch of younger guys, I probably wouldn’t like it. It’s nice having Patch here. He’s the grandpa. He’s the only guy older than me.
“We do a lot of D-line hangouts. We also do a lot of film sessions. We come back every day at 5 o’clock once everyone’s done with class, hang out again for another hour, do film, study and then after that, sometimes we go out to eat together. We were talking about it the other day. We spend like nine hours a day with each other. The only time we’re not with each other is when we’re sleeping or at school. We’re all intertwined and hanging out with each other. It’s like family.”
And family heckles. Imagine watching film and making a mistake. The call-outs can be relentless. They also serve a purpose, because after an evening of being chided, the mistakes generally go away.
Toby knows he would have missed it. All of it. The camaraderie he has with his fellow defensive linemen and the rush of making a tackle on game day. Running across the field and grabbing the Bronze Boot. You can’t replace those emotions.
Nor another important one, which is being part of something bigger than him. Of chasing down goals which are not yours, but ours. He’s still realistic about it all, which is why he tries to make the most he can out of each and every day.
His career has been a pretty amazing script. One he’d actually sign off on.