If you watching the Bears game closely on Sunday, you might have noticed a ball boy streaking down the sideline during Johnny Knox's second-half-opening kickoff return. The ball boy was hauling -- he ran step for step with Knox for at least 30 yards, and Knox is one of the fastest players in the NFL. It was an impressive feat.
But if you missed it Sunday, you're in luck: Not only is the replay available on NFL.com (watch MaGee come in the picture right around the 50-yard-line), MaGee has turned into something of a minor media sensation.
He got his front-and-center for the first time this week on Monday Night Football (the most watched cable television program of all-time; not bad for a debut) when ESPN anchor Chris Berman spot-shadowed MaGee sprinting after Knox on a halftime highlights segment. Knox then made an appearance on local ESPN radio show "Waddle and Silvy," and today he officially entered the Chicago canon with a spot-feature story in the Chicago Tribune.
With all this attention, MaGee is easily the most famous ball boy in the NFL now. Has the fame gone to his head?
"I've been doing this for eight years now and I always sprint after the ball," he said. "I guess this is the first time anybody ever saw me do it." "I wasn't expecting any of this," he said. "I'm sure my friends and family enjoy it more than I do because I'm pretty laid back. I don't even tell people I work for the Bears."
What a gentleman.
As the Tribune story describes, MaGee has a pretty cush job. His responsibilities include helping players with their shoes and gloves, and toting balls around after kickoff for referee use. But the best part is his pregame routine -- playing catch with Jay Cutler while the quarterback warms up his arm. So MaGee has hands AND speed? Why haven't the Bears signed him yet, anyway?
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
