BLOOMINGTON, Minn. ā As a senior playing for the Wootton High School football team in Rockville, Maryland, wide receiver Mack Hollins dressed in a suit and tie and carried a briefcase around school everyday.
All of his friends questioned his attire, but they became used to it after two weeks.
āYou dress for the job you want,ā Hollins told Capital News Service, ānot the job you have.ā
Hollins has continued those quirky actions as a rookie wide receiver with the Philadelphia Eagles.
He played with a Rubikās Cube to stay calm when speaking with Super Bowl media this week. He always rides his bike to the NovaCare Complex for Eagles practice, and heās encouraged his teammates to buy Nintendo Switches so they can play Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with him.
Hollinsā different personality correlates with the unusual path he took to the NFL.
Wootton is best known for its academics, rarely producing Division I college talent.
Hollins didnāt receive any Division I scholarship offers out of high school or after his year at Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill admitted Hollins, where he walked onto the team and stood out on special teams.
After completing his roundabout route to the NFL, Hollins and the Eagles will play in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.
āMack was a home run,ā said Marcus Berry, North Carolinaās former director of player personnel. āIn the nine years Iāve done it, heās one of the highlights of my career. Iām not surprised by any of his success.ā
Hollins didnāt play his junior year at Wootton for an incident he didnāt specify, which Wootton coach Eddie Tolliver said prevented him from receiving college attention.
Wootton hasnāt groomed another NFL player in Tolliverās seven years leading the program, so college scouts didnāt spend much time watching Woottonās games.
But Hollinsā dad, Richard, connected with Berry through their ties of playing football at West Virginia University. Hollinsā speed impressed Berry, and he encouraged the Rockville native to attend preparatory school for a year to gain more exposure.
Hollins learned how to long snap at Fork Union, just so he could get on the field at some position.
Still, Hollins didnāt receive any Division I offers after his season at Fork Union. He emailed about 100 colleges, and while some of the coachās secretaries responded, Berry was one of the only coaches to respond himself.
Hollins attended North Carolina, and Berry, still impressed by Hollinsā upside, did everything he could to help Hollins make the team.
āI canāt be in college just reading books,ā Hollins said, āand not doing something with my extra time.ā
Larry Fedora had just taken over as head coach of the Tar Heels, and he wanted 12 speedy wide receivers to fit his multi-tempo, no-huddle spread offense, and there was only one roster spot available.
Berry stood up for Hollins at the teamās pair of meetings to decide who to pick for that final spot.
Berry guaranteed Fedora that Hollins would be on scholarship by the end of his scholarship year, and Hollins gave himself two years to earn a scholarship because of the burden of paying out-of-state tuition.
North Carolina chose Hollins, and Berryās prediction panned out, as the Tar Heels placed Hollins on scholarship entering his sophomore year.
āWhen he first got here, I didnāt know if he could catch. I didnāt know he could tackle,ā North Carolina strength and conditioning coach Lou Hernandez said. āBut watching him run, it was like, āWe got to find something for this guy to do.āā
Hollins separated himself with his work ethic. He won every sprinting drill, and after finishing his conditioning training, he would run on the treadmill.
Sometimes, he would go through the conditioning drills twice, when some players couldnāt even finish their first round.
Coaches worried about Hollinsā ability to catch, so he spent 30 extra minutes before and after practices working on the JUGS machine.
Behind Hollinsā 6-foot, 4-inch frame and agility, Berry said, he developed into one of the best special teams players in North Carolina history. He was one of the teamās top two receivers by his sophomore year, and he led the country with 24.8 yards per reception his junior season.
The Eagles selected Hollins in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.
āThe other guys on the team were like, āMan, you have to chill out. Youāre not going to make it through,āā Berry said. āHe would literally win every race. It just got to the point where it was like, āJust do what Mack does.āā
Hollins still visits Wootton when heās home, serving as a mentor for the current players, a role he didnāt have as a high schooler since no other Wootton player was in the NFL.
The players were nervous to talk with Hollins before he started working out at the school often between graduating from North Carolina and reporting to Eagles training camp.
āHe inspires me,ā Wootton wide receiver Elijah Trent said, ābecause he never lost sight of his dream.ā
Hollins has made his biggest difference in the NFL on special teams, although Philadelphia special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said it usually takes about three years to become a great special teams performer.
Hollins has served a defined role as a big-play wideout in a crowded receivers corps, recording 16 catches for 226 yards.
Eagles safety Jaylen Watkins said Hollins reads defendersā hand placements in practices and often makes slight adjustments on his routes to get open.
āSome NFL players are flashy,ā Watkins said, ābut Mack likes what he likes.ā
Even as Hollins cracks jokes throughout meetings, his teammates and coaches respect the journey that has led him to the Super Bowl.
āYou can just tell the way he runs routes heās a smart guy,ā Eagles safety Rodney McLeod said. āHeās not overly fast or anything, but heās very crafty and finds a way to get open. Heās going to be around here for a long time.ā
