McKenzie glad to be of service

McKenzie's path to professional football was a circuitous one that included stops at Michigan State, Iowa State, South Florida, and the hospitality industry. Usually, a prospect who was at three schools in five years would raise character concerns, but McKenzie's nomadic career was the result of his desire to put family before football.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 243-pound linebacker, who lost his father when he was 9, began his college career at Michigan State in 2004. He played in 11 games as a freshman, but in the spring of 2005, after his mother, Ruth, was in a car accident, McKenzie was forced to leave school.

The accident left his mother with ankle and wrist injuries that rendered her unable to operate her home daycare business. It was shut down. McKenzie returned home to Riverview, Fla., and took a job as a hotel worker, working nights to support his mother and three sisters and kept in football shape by working out during the day.

"I was working the front desk from 11 p.m. to 7 in the morning, checking people in at night," said McKenzie. "Working that late it gets kind of boring and you get kind of tired from sitting there and looking at a door that probably opens every hour and a half for someone to check in late at night."

McKenzie returned to football in 2006, playing at Iowa State. Manning the middle linebacker spot for the Cyclones, he finished eighth in the nation in tackles with 129 and earned second-team All-Big 12 honors. But McKenzie was on the move again, transferring to South Florida after his mother got a divorce.

The NCAA granted McKenzie a hardship waiver and he was able to compete right away for South Florida in 2007. He led the Bulls in tackles that season with a school-record 121 and had 7 1/2 tackles for a loss. Last season, McKenzie had 121 tackles, a sack, 15 stops for a loss, and an interception.

"I've always continued to play football no matter where I've been," said McKenzie. "I continued to send video out to wherever I've been to play football. I play with a passion, and I enjoy the game. Family has been a huge part of my life because if it wasn't for family I wouldn't be in that situation right now."

Before the 23-year-old faced the adversity of his college years, he bounced back from a broken leg in high school. He said that injury taught him how to work hard and accomplish his goals.

The Patriots picked McKenzie, who made a predraft visit to Foxborough, with the compensatory pick awarded as a result of losing cornerback Asante Samuel after the 2007 season. Although McKenzie was primarily an outside linebacker at South Florida, he projects as an inside linebacker in New England's 3-4 defense.

That's fine by McKenzie, who was used as a strong-side linebacker, middle linebacker, and weak-side linebacker at South Florida, which valued his versatility and football IQ.

McKenzie proved he could play strong-side linebacker in college, but the obstacles he's overcome to enter the NFL have proved he's a strong-willed linebacker.

He could have checked out of college football at any time, but instead his stint as a hotel worker steeled his focus to succeed.

"Exactly, when you go through a situation like that it's huge," said McKenzie. "It helps you mature as a man, so all through this whole process I've hung out with guys going through this same draft process, realizing how much more mature I was than my competition. That really helped me become the man that I am today. It let me realize it can be here today and gone tomorrow, and at the same time, I don't ever want to go back to working at a Hampton Inn."