GVSUs McDonald Pats 'good luck charm'

INDIANAPOLIS (WOOD) - If you didn't know better, you'd think Nick McDonald lives a charmed life. Two years into his NFL career and he's on the verge of winning a second Super Bowl ring.

Undrafted after a stellar college career at GVSU, McDonald was on the Green Bay Packers' practice squad. He never played a down in a game, but he still got a ring when the Packers beat the Steelers.

This season he began on the Patriots practice squad, and in December, he finally made his NFL debut.

"It's crazy," he told 24 Hour News 8. "Guys go 15 years and not even win a playoff game. It's obviously rare. I'm very fortunate for this to happen."

He added, "Everybody is calling me the good luck charm. I don't know if that's true."

Nick McDonald's life has been anything but charmed. The tattoos he has are in honor of his mother, Irene, who died of cancer when he was 14. Not long after, his father abandoned the family, leaving Nick and his three siblings to fend for themselves.

"(My dad) lost his best friend. He lost the love of his life. He broke down, and he struggled with it more than anybody," he said. "It sucked for us kids."

With the help of friends, coaches and football, he was able to overcome the rocky path he'd been forced to travel.

He earned a scholarship to GVSU, won All-American honors his senior season and helped the Lakers advance to the national championship game in 2009.

Being undrafted did not deter him. What he had been through taught him to persevere, and he credited those struggles for helping him.

"I've gone through a lot in my life, and I think that's what kind of drives me," he said. "Life could always be worse. That's the way you've got to look at it. I'm in the NFL and I'm playing a kids game. I want to keep proving that I can do this.

"I've dealt with adversity. And it helps me."