‘So LIT!’: After 10 1/2 months of pain & waiting, rookie Kenny McIntosh jolts Seahawks
There’s thankful.
Then there’s what Kenny McIntosh is this Thanksgiving.
Ten and a half months ago, McIntosh was inconsolable. The national-champion running back at the University of Georgia waited three days through seven rounds and 236 other guys getting selected in the 2023 NFL draft. He was preparing to sign with a team as a bitter, undrafted rookie free agent.
He was, to put it mildly, ticked.
Then the Seahawks called.
“(Sh**), man, I’ve been waiting all day! How do you think it feels?” McIntosh said, crying through the telephone April 29 on a Saturday that began with the fourth round at noon Eastern Time before he got drafted at about 6:30 p.m.
McIntosh ran the 40-yard dash at 4.62 seconds at the league’s scouting combine in March That was the third-slowest of any running back. That’s why he didn’t get drafted until late in the final round.
“I know I had a bad 40. They hold that over you, for life, you feel me?” he said of his draft day. “But I didn’t think I was going to go this low.
“So let’s just bring it on. I’m ready for the challenge.”
He arrived in Seattle and proved that, immediately. McIntosh impressed his new coaches and teammates with his energy and his dedication to working, fiendishly. He was fast. He was elusive with the ball in his hands.
What impressed Seahawks coach Pete Carroll most was the 6-foot, 204-pound McIntosh was a better pass blocker than the team expected. He was so hell-bent on proving the league wrong in passing over him for almost the entire draft, he began taking it out on teammates trying to pass rush around him in training camp.
In his first full scrimmage with his new NFL team, the first Friday in August, McIntosh got tackled awkwardly on a carry in a Seahawks mock game. His leg buckled under him into the Lumen Field turf.
He had a major knee injury. He went on injured reserve. His first NFL season suddenly was on hold.
Kenny McIntosh’s long wait
Weeks turned to months as McIntosh worked in training rooms to get back on the field. Rookie running back and second-round pick Zach Charbonnet got all the attention, and some of the plays McIntosh might have gotten in Seahawks games.
Two weeks ago, the team finally deemed him healthy enough to practice. They put him back on the active roster Nov. 11. But he still wasn’t playing. He missed two more games, not because he wasn’t ready but because the team had no place for him to play.
Then last weekend, lead back Kenneth Walker injured his oblique muscle early in Seattle’s game at the Los Angeles Rams.
Walker hasn’t practiced this week. Carroll said Wednesday Walker won’t play Thursday when the Seahawks (6-4) have a massive game against the front-running San Francisco 49ers (7-3).
Charbonnet will make his first NFL start in the Thanksgiving night national showcase game for first place in the NFC West.
And with those brightest lights, McIntosh’s time has finally arrived.
Finally, a debut
After 10 1/2 months, after all the despair, anger, pain, rehabilitation and waiting, he will make his NFL and Seahawks debut against the 49ers in this week 12 showdown.
He was so excited and appreciative Wednesday his smile lit up the entire Seahawks’ locker room.
McIntosh was absolutely glowing.
“I’m going to be so LIT (Thursday)!” he said, repeating what he’d said the day Seattle (finally) drafted him.
“On Thanksgiving! My mom (Kyria) just hit me on message, man, telling me how God is good! He got me this platform to go out there and showcase my talent when everybody is going to be watching.
“It’s SO good, man! I’ve been waiting for this moment, and it’s finally here.”
His excitement and enthusiasm this week have refreshed the entire Seahawks franchise that needs a jolt after the team’s meltdown loss last at the Los Angeles Rams last weekend.
“It was fun watching him. He’s excited about it,” Carroll said. “It’s the first chance. He knows..he’s in the rotation. He’s playing. He’s in the game. He’s been practicing really well.
“He’s looked like he’s part of it without any hesitation, I can tell you that. ...He’s tuned in.”
‘Electric’ McIntosh
Offensive coordinator Shane Waldron says McIntosh provides “a little electric attitude to the day.”
Of course, if you’d gone through what McIntosh has since April, you’d be juiced right now, too.
“Always having fun, great energy,” Waldron said. “And then it shows up with his play style where he’s got great quickness, great speed.”
Think hurting quarterback Geno Smith and the Seahawks could use some of that in their quest to upset the mighty 49ers, who steamrolled them in three games last season, including a wild-card playoff game in January?
McIntosh said he is bringing the following into Seattle’s offense and special teams beginning Thursday night: “Explosiveness. Just being able to be that playmaker, getting momentum on our side whenever the offense needs to get going.
“I think I can provide that energy,” he said. “That’s what it ties into, just bringing energy and making plays. Really get the crowd into the game. That’s what I like to do, because then when the crowd is into the game, that’s our 12th Man, like they say. Once the crowd has that energy in the game, I think it’s hard to beat us...especially at home.”
McIntosh wanted to fly Mom out to Seattle from his hometown of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for his huge debut. But she’s home hosting and cooking Thanksgiving for his five brothers, all older than the 23-year-old running back.
“They are going to be all back home. They are all going to be together watching me — plus our grandkids,” McIntosh said.
His father Richard has 10 children, in all. He taught Kenny and his brothers “to never be soft,” Kenny McIntosh told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2022 before he won that national title at Georgia.
Richard Jr., (R.J.) played collegiately at Miami and was a defensive end with the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins through last season. Another brother, Deon, was a running back at Notre Dame then Washington State through the 2021 college season.
Thursday, they will be among tens of million of people across America watching the youngest McIntosh from Fort Lauderdale finally get his NFL chance.
Yeah, you could say it’s overdue.
He sure does.
“I can’t wait to go out there and get that first hit out the way!” he said.
He said he may not sleep Wednesday night prior to the game.
“We know this is one of the games we need...I feel we have a home advantage,” McIntosh said.
“I’m ready to get lit, for real!”
This story was originally published November 22, 2023 at 3:20 PM.
