It’s true, Xavier McKinney says. Interceptions are like bananas, roses and parades in Kansas City every winter. They come in bunches until, suddenly, it’s raining interceptions.
Still, in a specific, related slice of professional football history, the longest streaks of consecutive games with at least one interception mostly predate the West Coast offense. When Oakland Raiders ballhawk Tom Morrow picked off at least one pass in eight consecutive games in late 1962 and early ’63, he recorded the longest-ever stretch. But, even Morrow’s own mother would note that offensive football wasn’t anywhere near the same universe of modern football in sophistication or complexity.
In fact, since Y2K, only two defenders have entered that INT-streaking conversation. Minnesota Vikings safety Brian Russell grabbed at least one errant throw in six consecutive games in 2001. And Dallas Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs registered just as many two decades later.
That held, those two, until this season, when McKinney snagged, seized, grabbed and snatched his way into their club. McKinney saw all this coming, he says. Leaving the New York Giants after four successful seasons and signing with the Green Bay Packers this past spring, he sees that sequence as no less than fate. He sees himself as violent and cerebral, fearless and disciplined, a safety a mission control specialist. His: Boost the Lambeau Leapers back into the Super Bowl, triumph, repeat; and, eventually, sit for a Hall of Fame bust.
Anyone who might have guffawed at such grand ambition before this season isn’t laughing anymore. McKinney ranks among ’s highest-graded players; at midseason, he was the site’s highest-graded Packer. He’s a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year. And, as part of the mission, a cornerstone for a Super Bowl contender. He was all that, right away, from the season opener through 12 weeks, just out there grabbing interceptions like bananas off a grocery store produce rack.
McKinney’s first six INTs this season came on only 12 targets from opposing quarterbacks; his seventh came Sunday, at home against the San Francisco 49ers. He returned that pick 48 yards, added a pair of pass deflections and made three solo tackles. The Packers trounced the Niners, improving to 8-3, their record at once announcing their NFC contender status and ranking third in the NFL’s most formidable division.
The record-tying streak began with a pair of interceptions in Week 18 last season with the Giants. And it continued—game after game—with the Packers. Week 1: pick. Week 2: same. Just like in Weeks 3, 4 and 5. Clad in dark green and gold, McKinney became the first player since 1970 to snag at least one INT in his first five games with a new team. He picked off a former college teammate (Jalen Hurts), a pair of struggling former first-rounders (Anthony Richardson and Will Levis), a quarterback amid a remarkable resurgence (Sam Darnold) and a legend (Matthew Stafford). In the Packers’ storied-upon-storied history, only one other defender had fashioned a pick streak of similar length. Name: Irv Comp. Season: .
So, yeah, McKinney is a lot of things, all those things, most of them elite. What he’s not is what he has never been: surprised by his own play. He hasn’t thought too much about the history now laden into his first Packers season. He has noticed how many other people , though. It can seem like they’re not aware that McKinney ever played football before, for how long, where, or how well.
“Yeah, I don’t know why people just act like it’s just out of nowhere,” McKinney told over Zoom in early November.
He sighs, softly, just barely loud enough to hear. Pivot. He never played for their approval, anyway. He says he doesn’t care.
He could say: . .
