Yahsyn McKee Sr. – Having a Season as ‘The Guy’

By Jay Gonzales ꟾ Rattlers Media

Though he was new to the Arizona Rattlers and new to the indoor football game, Yahsyn McKee Sr. still had an expectation of himself to be "the guy" on the team's young and inexperienced defense as training camp approached this year.

The rookie defensive back has been that and more 14 games into a season that is leading to a Rattlers' playoff run.

McKee leads the IFL in interceptions with nine. He's the team's leading tackler with 60, and he's got 11 pass breakups on a defense that, despite its youth, is the best in the league, giving up the fewest points and the fewest total yards. McKee earned his first Defensive Player of the Week award from the IFL this week after a 65-36 victory over San Diego.

He picked up his ninth interception of the season in the game and turned it into his first career interception return for a touchdown at any level, taking it 35 yards to the house for the Rattlers' final score in the game.

"I've always been the guy, the playmaker, at every place that I've been so I knew coming in here that I would have to step up to the plate," said McKee, who played three years at Mercer and closed out his college career at Miami, Ohio. "Even being a young guy, my game shows I'm a leader."

While the individual effort speaks for itself, McKee makes the point that the defense as a whole has established a chemistry – even with all the youth – to give Head Coach Kevin Guy a defense he can count on.

"We're young guys, so we all have a pretty good relationship with each other," McKee said. "We go out together. We watch film together. We do everything together. That chemistry is starting to build, and we're just getting better and better each week on defense."

The Rattlers lead the league allowing 192.9 yards per game on defense and are one of only two teams allowing less than 200 yards. Teams are averaging 36.6 points per game against the Rattlers, who lead in that category as well.

"We're getting comfortable with the indoor game because a lot of these guys have never played indoor either," McKee said. "We're just getting comfortable and now that we're comfortable, it's starting to show and we're starting to blossom."

And he's having fun, he said.

"It's not about the individual accolades for me," he said. "I just like playing football and having fun with my guys and building new relationships and chemistry. I love it all."

You can tell by his signature celebration after a great play, the Spider-Man web sling, which he said is a tribute to his 4-year-old son. McKee adds a "Sr." to his name to identify him as a father and to give his son his own identity as the "Jr." in the family.

"I want my son to see everything and see Daddy is that guy, that Daddy's a baller," McKee said. "I want him to one day say he wants to come play football or whatever he wants to do and go be a baller."