McNair Is Oak Park’s Man for All Positions

Perhaps it was inevitable that Monte McNair of Oak Park High would be a multifaceted football player.

Having grown up playing baseball, basketball and soccer, McNair wasn’t thrilled about spending substantial portions of a football game on the sideline getting a breather while some of his teammates were on the field.

After playing defensive back and kicker during his first season in the eighth grade, he was a receiver and kicker as a freshman on Oak Park’s junior varsity team.

He played receiver, kicker and punter and returned kickoffs and punts at the varsity level as a sophomore and junior before also becoming a starting defensive back this season.

“I’ve always felt that if you’re going to play football, you should want to be out there as much as possible,” McNair said. “Otherwise, you shouldn’t be out there.”

McNair is in the game for every play except when Oak Park kicks off, yet he says fatigue doesn’t become a factor until the final five minutes.

Then it’s simply a matter of taking one play at a time.

“I don’t try to look at the big picture,” McNair said, “because if I say, ‘I have to play five more minutes,’ I won’t be able to. But you can always get yourself to go one more play. So you just keep going one more play.”

Linemen who play both ways are the ones who have it tough, McNair said.

“They get hit on every play,” he said. “You look at those guys after games and they look like they’re about to pass out.”

The respect McNair has for linemen is evidence of a down-to-earth personality, Coach Dick Billingsley said.

“He’s real quiet and real respectful of others,” Billingsley said. “He’s a very good student and a very good athlete, but you’ll never hear him talk about himself. He’s very humble about what he’s accomplished.”

McNair has 35 receptions for 690 yards with seven touchdowns, helping Oak Park to a 5-2-1 record and a No. 8 ranking in Southern Section Division XI.

He is averaging 19.7 yards per catch in his varsity career, but Division I programs have shown little interest in him.

The 6-foot-1, 177-pound McNair admits he lacks the speed and leaping ability to impress Division I coaches, but Billingsley said McNair has other skills that will allow him to play at that level.

“He is one of the most intelligent players I’ve coached during my [32-year] career,” Billingsley said.

“He’s knows exactly what’s going on out there. He can catch almost any kind of ball.”

McNair, Oak Park’s starting point guard last basketball season, said he understands his football limitations.

“Because I don’t have the blistering speed or the great leaping ability, I try to run the best routes I can,” McNair said. “I have to make up for the fact that I’m not 6-4 and don’t run the 40 in 4.3.”