It’s been a frustrating season for Terry McLaurin and the Washington Commanders. Since being drafted in 2019, McLaurin has played with 10 different starting quarterbacks and 11 quarterbacks in total.
Yet, somehow, McLaurin remains among the NFL’s best wide receivers.
On Sunday, he finished his fifth NFL season with 79 receptions, 1,002 yards and four touchdowns. It was the fourth consecutive 1,000-yard receiving season for McLaurin, setting a franchise record.
The record almost didn’t happen for McLaurin. He was stuck at 41 yards, 13 shy of 1,000 when the Commanders got the ball back with around one minute remaining down 38-10.
While the game was long over, McLaurin’s coaches and teammates badly wanted the record for the team captain and humble star.
On Washington’s next-to-last offensive play, quarterback Sam Howell threw a screen to McLaurin, who rumbled 15 yards and set the record. In a lost season, it was an important mark for everyone but not one you’ll hear McLaurin boasting about.
How he set that record is what matters most for McLaurin.
“I try not to put too much pressure on it, honestly,” McLaurin said. “And just let the game come to me. I’m fortunate to be a part of this organization where there’s so many great players, so many great receivers who have contributed to the legacy of this organization. I’ve gotten the pleasure to meet some of them, and so, to be in the conversation with any of them is a blessing I honestly didn’t know that would be a part of my journey. But I’m just extremely grateful where God has me.”
Well done. Classy. And you want to know why McLaurin is beloved by coaches, teammates, fans and the community?
After lavishing praise on those who came before him and expressing his gratitude for where he is, McLaurin wanted to praise his teammates.
“Just to say something about my teammates, basically, it came down to the last play,” McLaurin said. “Literally everybody on the sideline was like, ‘we’re going to get this for you. We’re going to block our ass off for you.’ It kinda made me a little emotional; it’s a testament to the guys that we have in this locker room. And I think it’s a testament to hopefully how they feel about me and the leader that I’ve tried to be for them.”
McLaurin will never forget his teammates — and coaches — for helping him fight for a record that didn’t mean a lot to him personally when the team wasn’t playing for anything. It was the camaraderie shown that mattered the most to McLaurin.
“I appreciate that; that’s really what’s going to stick with me,” McLaurin said. “The love that the coaches and my teammates have for me, to get me in history, so I’m indebted to them for that, and I’m just thankful for God that he’s allowed me to be in this situation and be a leader for this team and organization.”
The Commanders will undergo a lot of changes this offseason, but whoever comes in from a new regime would be wise to hitch their wagon to McLaurin.
The Washington Commanders are so lucky to have Terry McLaurin in that locker room.
Watch and listen.
A true pro in every sense of the word. pic.twitter.com/4xfPpWKISK
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) January 8, 2024
