In which setting is Michael McCrary more content: blowing by an offensive tackle and dropping a quarterback or discovering an addition to his ever-evolving toy collection?
Hard to say. In McCrary's world, work and play wage a constant battle for his attention, and he throws his energy into each domain with similar abandon.
Besides addressing a glaring need for a pass rusher, the Ravens signed McCrary to a three-year, $6 million contract last spring with his dogged work habits in mind. McCrary had enjoyed a breakthrough 1996 season in Seattle by tying for the AFC lead with 13.5 sacks. He left the Seahawks via free agency, and he is preparing for his fifth NFL season with a sense of rejuvenation. For the first time, a starting job belongs to McCrary in July.
The Ravens' thinking went beyond statistics. They had McCrary, 27, ranked as their top pass-rushing priority based on game tapes. They saw an emerging star with the quickness and boundless energy to offset his light, 6-foot-4, 267-pound frame. They saw a defensive end who refused to give up on a play, a self-made performer -- he was a seventh-round draft pick out of Wake Forest in 1993 -- too driven to be spoiled by success.
Watching McCrary rush against Ravens left tackle Jonathan Ogden in training camp confirms the Ravens' theory. First, there is McCrary's explosive burst off the line of scrimmage. Next comes an array of spin moves and head fakes. And even after Ogden drags him to the ground, there is McCrary, crawling toward quarterback Vinny Testaverde.
"He's crazy. All-out every play. Never stops," Ogden said after a recent practice. "He's real quick, sneaky, very creative. I know he's going to make me better."
"What a motor. We're still learning to read off of each other, but I do know that [McCrary] is relentless. He's never satisfied. He's the real deal," said right defensive tackle Tony Siragusa, who was signed two weeks after McCrary.
Siragusa also is getting to know another side, a wackier side, of McCrary.
"He's sort of a little kid stuck inside a man's body," Siragusa said with a shake of his head. "He has too many toys. I got hit in the ankle with one of them the other day when I was trying to play some pinball."
That would be one of McCrary's favorites, a remote-controlled race car that has been seen buzzing around the team's training camp hotel in Westminster.
