McAtee walks on the team, off a hero

There’s certain plays that will forever live in sports lore. There’s “The Catch” by Dwight Clark, “The Helmet Catch” by David Tyree and “The Immaculate Reception” by Franco Harris. And then there’s “The Tackle” by Robbie McAtee.

McAtee, a senior cornerback, single-handily saved UK’s unscathed record on Saturday. With no time remaining on the clock at Commonwealth Stadium, McAtee drug down Middle Tennessee State wide receiver Eldred King literally inches away from the end zone, preserving a 20-14 UK win.

While “The Tackle” probably doesn’t carry as much significance in the big picture of the sports world, it might be the play that matters to Cats’ fans this season. It preserved UK’s current undefeated record and saved the Cats from a potentially embarrassing loss.

“I can’t recall making a bigger play than that at any level,” McAtee said. “There also hasn’t been a play I made that had more importance than that one either.”

While McAtee is making big plays for the Cats now, it hasn’t always been that way. The Louisville native started his collegiate career as a wide receiver at Franklin College in Indiana, a Division III school.

“When I first transferred here it was overwhelming because Franklin has only about 1,000 students,” McAtee said. “At first I had no idea what to do when I got to UK.”

After redshirting in 2005, his first season at UK, he made the team as a walk-on wide receiver in 2006; he was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Scout Team Player that year. However, the following year he made yet another transition to cornerback.

“It was a pretty rough transition as far as learning how to play man coverage,” McAtee said. “But, to be honest, the hardest thing was learning how to tackle and the proper technique.”

Despite having little experience at the cornerback position, where he played sparingly in high school, he’s shown flashes of brilliance on the college scene. He had five tackles against Vanderbilt last season and recorded his first collegiate pass breakup in the 2008 Music City Bowl victory over Florida State.

“We saw some potential in him because he’s such a hard-nose guy,” offensive coordinator Joker Phillips said. “He’s just an unbelievably smart guy who plays with poise and confidence.”

It was Phillips who McAtee went to first after transferring to UK. McAtee, then a sophomore, asked Phillips for a spot on the team to walk on, and after watching some game tape and multiple talks, Phillips agreed to let McAtee join.

Phillips said the coaching staff got its first look at McAtee during a junior varsity game when UK didn’t have enough players to field a full team. That meant McAtee had to play both ways. After watching McAtee make plays on defense during the game, the Cats decided to play him as a cornerback.

“I knew it was going to be a slow process of working my way into the rotation,” McAtee said. “But, through time I was able to keep working and finally got my chance.”

Despite playing on the opposite side of the ball now, McAtee said he and Phillips maintain a close bond and knows he can always turn to Phillips when he needs to.

“I get a good laugh out of Joker here and there,” McAtee said. “We still mess with each other and play around even though I’m on defense now. Our relationship is really good.”

McAtee has made the full transition to defense this season, where he’s recorded 12 tackles in three games, good enough for third on the team. He also has a pass breakup and a fumble recovery, but none as important as the game-saving tackle on King. McAtee said he didn’t realize how close the Blue Raiders were to scoring until after the game.

“I knew he was close because I noticed where I was on the field during the play,” McAtee said. “But, I didn’t realize how close inside the one he was until after the replays.”