Loyalty has as much to do with how you’re raised as it does with how you live, according to Mason McCormick. At least, that’s what the Pittsburgh Steelers’ fourth-round draft pick credits for his own sense of loyalty.
An FCS football player out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s South Dakota State Jackrabbits, McCormick faced the same challenges as any small-school prospect. No matter how well you dominate your competition, you’re always asked, who did you beat? Such questions often cap their potential to the middle rounds of the draft.
A lot of times, NFL-worthy prospects from small schools must answer those questions in Bowl games and practices. Arguably, fewer small-school players make it this far because those who have that talent enter the transfer portal. They end up changing schools where they can raise their profile. McCormick never did despite the opportunity to do so, and he explained why.
“Yes, I had offers. The temptation was not there,” he told reporters on Friday via the team’s website. “South Dakota State gave so much to me and developed me into who I am now. Who am I to leave South Dakota State? They poured so much into me. I feel like they should be able to reap the benefits of what they helped create. Sure, some money would be cool or whatever, but it’s just, ultimately, my loyalties lie with the people that are good to me.”
Reporters asked him questions in the same vein after the draft, and he gave the same answer. “I feel like in today’s world, loyalty is kind of an afterthought,” he said at the time via 93.7 The Fan. “South Dakota State did so much for me it was a no-brainer for me to be loyal to them.”
McCormick first arrived at South Dakota State in 2018, redshirting his first season as a zero-star prospect from Sioux Falls. He managed two starts the following season before the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out his redshirt sophomore year. In all, he spent six years there, logging comfortably over 3,000 career snaps on the offensive line.
We’ll see how loyalty influences McCormick’s relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers moving forward. He has a chance to earn a starting job, though not as a rookie. They drafted him after taking linemen in the first two rounds precisely for that reason. If he does crack the starting lineup, will he show loyalty to the Steelers when he hits free agency?
That doesn’t mean taking a cheap contract because business is always a part of the equation. But for some, more than others, so are our core values. McCormick credits his family for the emphasis he puts on loyalty.
“I think that’s just the way I was raised,” he said. “People that are good to you, you should be great to them and give back to them. That’s just the way it’s always been for me.”
Loyalty. It’s an easy talk to talk, but try walking it, and most will fall on their face. McCormick stayed loyal to South Dakota State and it served him well to get this far.
