Erik McCoy (born August 27, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Early years

McCoy attended

Lufkin High School Lufkin High School is a public high school located in Lufkin, Texas (United States) and is classified as a 5A school by the University Interscholastic League. It is part of the Lufkin Independent School District that serves the Lufkin area and cen ...

Lufkin, Texas Lufkin is the largest city in Angelina County, Texas and the county seat. The city is situated in Deep East Texas and about 60 miles west of the Texas-Louisiana border. Its estimated population is 35,021 as of July 1, 2019. Lufkin was founded ...

. He committed to

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

to play college football.

College career

After redshirting his first year at Texas A&M in 2015, McCoy became a starter his redshirt freshman year in 2016 and started all 38 games during his career. After his junior year in 2018, he entered the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

Professional career

McCoy was drafted by the

in the second round (48th overall) of the

. The Saints traded up with the Miami Dolphins to draft McCoy. In the 2021 season opener against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, McCoy left the game after suffering a calf injury in the first quarter. He missed the next four games until he returned in the Week 7 win over the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

. On September 8, 2022, McCoy signed a five-year, $63.75 million contract extension with the Saints. McCoy was placed on injured reserve on November 12, 2022. He was designated to return from injured reserve on December 14, 2022, and activated for Week 15.

References

External links

Texas A&M Aggies bio
* 1997 births Living people People from Lufkin, Texas Players of American football from Texas American football centers Texas A&M Aggies football players New Orleans Saints players {{offensive-lineman-1990s-stub