2013-2014 CCC defensive lineman Takkarist McKinley will soon be playing for the Atlanta Falcons.
USA Today McKinley 鈥渢he star of the NFL draft鈥 as the 2017 NFC champions swapped first-round and gave up third- and sixth-round picks to snag him.
McKinley became an instant fan-favorite at the draft, when聽he met聽reporters with a large, framed photo of his grandmother in his arms. She raised him here in Richmond, often struggling through pretty tough times. On her deathbed, he promised to make it to Division I of college football鈥檚 NCAA. He did better than that, though: a phenomenal senior season performance at UCLA made him the university鈥檚 only first-round NFL draft pick.
He鈥檚 also getting a lot of attention for the video he posted after getting his first big paycheck. (Warning: the video contains some coarse language.)
Due to an injury, he鈥檚 expected to ease into the Falcons preseason schedule, but be sure to keep an eye out for him as the season approaches.