ASHBURN, Va. — Receiving took work for Terry McLaurin. Giving came naturally.
Parents and their children stood in line at a suburban Virginia parking lot one week before Christmas on a brisk December night. They would soon receive gifts, toys and winter essentials, but not from a rotund man dressed in a bright red suit. The Washington Commanders’ star wideout only dons a uniform on game days.
Part of McLaurin’s charm lies within his normalcy. Despite the wide receiver’s professional accomplishments — five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, two Pro Bowls and the franchise record for single-season touchdown receptions — he’s about as neighbor-next-door as possible, especially since some of his positional colleagues are known for their diva qualities.
McLaurin emerged as the face of the franchise not long after Washington selected him in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft. The team clinched the 2020 NFC East division title by finishing 7-9, but McLaurin never experienced a winning record with Washington until this season. His demeanor hasn’t changed now that the Commanders are set to play the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday for a shot at the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years.
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However, aiding his community on that cold December night or embracing his role as a team leader are 365-day occurrences done with passion and heart.
While touchdown connections with rookie sensation Jayden Daniels have helped lift this moribund franchise out of the depths of football hell, McLaurin finds his high by creating deep personal relationships with teammates.
“I believe one part of the reason I’m on this earth is to make an impact on other people’s lives,” the wide receiver said at the latest Washington-area event organized by his charitable foundation.
This wasn’t said by a famous athlete looking for good-guy attention. McLaurin grew up in Indianapolis and was raised by parents who valued helping others through volunteer work and hosting annual Christmas parties for family, friends and community members.
“You can’t save everybody. Even if you can only save a few, you can change the world,” Terry McLaurin Sr. said. “You can make the world a better place. He has a platform that can touch a lot of people. Saying the right words to them — sometimes all a person needs is a few minutes.”
The Commanders’ fan base needed more than a sincere “hang in there” or an hour of therapy after over two decades of football embarrassment. McLaurin’s play on the field and humanity off it became the light those fans in the dark or teammates in need gravitated toward in recent years.
“The man he is, how genuine he is with everybody. You could go to Terry to talk about almost anything, man,” Daniels said. “He’s there to just sit down and have a conversation with you.”
There is also the player named Indiana’s “Mr. Football” for excelling at Cathedral High School and who was part of Ohio State’s 2014 national championship team as a redshirt freshman. The man deeply rooted in his Christian faith isn’t shy about turning savage on defensive backs or peppering his usual PG-rated patter with motivational rage.
“When he puts on that uniform,” Terry Sr. said, “it’s like a Transformer. He turns into another human being.”
Along with route-running chops, contested-catch prowess, preternatural maturity and a Ph.D. in team chemistry, adaptability is among McLaurin’s strengths. He wouldn’t have survived his six seasons otherwise.
McLaurin roared into the NFL with 125 yards and a touchdown in his debut against Philadelphia on the same field he’ll lead Washington into the fray Sunday for the right to play in Super Bowl LIX.
His first head coach, Jay Gruden, knew Washington stole one with its third-round pick, even though some draft analysts praised McLaurin more for his special teams work than special traits at receiver.
“He’s been a great person since he stepped in the door,” Gruden said. “Of all the guys I’ve ever coached, he’s top two or three I’d want on my team as far as accountability, production, leadership, work ethic. Everything you want in a player, he has.”
Gruden wasn’t around for long. Five games into the 2019 season, McLaurin experienced a coaching change, zero wins and the beginning of a quarterback carousel that left the organization spinning.
Case Keenum got the first chance that year, followed by Dwayne Haskins and Colt McCoy. However, stability at the sport’s most crucial position remained elusive during head coach Ron Rivera’s four-year tenure.
At the end of the dismal 2023 campaign, Washington closed with eight consecutive losses to finish with a 4-13 record. At that point, McLaurin had caught passes from 10 different starting quarterbacks. Another change under center occurred last offseason, which was unquestionably for the better.
Spring and summer practices had a new-car smell. First-year general manager Adam Peters refreshed the roster with significant turnover, and new head coach Dan Quinn’s energetic optimism removed the constant bitter taste for holdovers such as McLaurin. The baseline created helped ease Daniels into the league.
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Despite McLaurin’s consistent production, questions existed over whether the 6-foot receiver had the goods to be a desirable No. 1. That debate is over. Establishing a rapport with Washington’s top target showed Daniels why this tandem offered immense upside.
“We hit a couple of those plays in training camp and OTAs. We kept growing continuously,” Daniels said.
Precision is palpable for receivers, especially when the quarterback is an anticipatory passer like Daniels. They worked on timing and stayed after practices for extra reps. The confident duo isn’t burdened with inflated egos. When they share what each sees against certain coverages, they listen to one another.
Philadelphia quieted McLaurin (one catch, 10 yards) in the Week 11 Eagles win. In the Week 16 rematch, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury looked to move McLaurin off his usual wide left spot. His slot snaps nearly doubled and his work from wide right led to a statline of five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
As practices turned into game days, Daniels unknowingly adopted former Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke’s whimsical approach when throwing McLaurin’s way: F— it. Terry is down there somewhere.
After failing to connect with Jayden Daniels for a score in the first two weeks, Terry McLaurin broke a franchise single-season record with 13 TDs over the next 15 games. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
“We talk throughout the week about different looks, how I view something and how he views stuff,” Daniels said. “Come game day, you don’t really think about it. You just put the ball in the vicinity for Terry to go make a play. Nine times out of 10, he makes them.”
McLaurin’s attacking catch in the end zone on the final play earned a Week 18 win at Dallas. He scored on a pivotal fourth down in Washington’s 23-20 last-second wild-card win at Tampa Bay. Last week, he ran with the ball for every inch of a screen pass-turned-58-yard touchdown in the divisional-round road win over the heavily favored Detroit Lions, Washington’s seventh consecutive victory.
“Terry McLaurin is about winning and he absolutely delivers,” Quinn said after McLaurin scored two touchdowns on two receptions in a win over the New York Giants in Week 9. “He strains to fight for it. I feel his presence in the game. Whatever it takes … He’s been so much fun to coach.”
He has 15 touchdowns in 19 games and nine in his last eight. As much as fans have fallen in love with the Daniels-McLaurin scoring combo, you never forget your first one. After opening the season with two quiet performances, Daniels lofted a flawless 27-yard pass to McLaurin in the back corner of the end zone for a door-slamming touchdown on “Monday Night Football” against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. NFL’s Next Gen Stats calculated a 10.3 completion probability, the third lowest of the season.
Washington’s newly formed power couple has more in common than football dynamism. They see hard work not as a chore but as the path toward excellence. Both are grounded in their daily lives through their families and religious faith. During Washington’s December bye week, Daniels gave back to kids in his hometown of San Bernardino, Calif., and donated 100 bicycles to Washington-area Boys & Girls Clubs.
“He’s extremely giving. He also knows who he is and who he wants to be on and off the field,” McLaurin said. “He’s an extremely hard worker. We share our faith in Jesus Christ. … I think that’s the greatest thing I’ve learned about him over time. We were much similar off the field than we were on the field. And so when you combine those two things, you start to see that connection growing.”
An NFL locker room is not typically the setting for deep conversations. Players don’t normally have ample free time to hold lengthy chats between on-field work, team meetings, media obligations and treatment sessions.
As for the subject matters, while important topics are addressed, it’s correct to assume the exchanges are more jocular than highbrow.
“You don’t really get deeper conversations in the locker room,” Commanders wide receiver K.J. Osborn said.
Osborn arrived with the Commanders at a professional low point. The 2020 fifth-round pick by the Vikings turned into a viable wide receiver with 158 receptions and 15 touchdowns over his final three seasons in Minnesota. In theory, signing with the rebuilding New England Patriots last offseason provided room to expand his game. Instead, his playing time and confidence shrunk.
New England released Osborn in December after producing seven catches in seven games. Washington, seeking depth following a season-ending injury to starter Noah Brown, claimed Osborn off waivers. Depth turned into game day deactivations.
The mental strain of trying to climb out of a professional funk was taxing. Doing so in a new environment with a team riding a heater was ripe for awkwardness — except that he was assigned the locker next to the welcome wagon.
Washington changed the assigned configuration under Quinn. Instead of clumping together by position and intensifying those natural cliques, mixing teammates would strengthen bonds throughout the roster. The stall to McLaurin’s immediate right was assigned to 2023 first-round cornerback Emmanuel Forbes Jr., until his late November release. The Osborn claim came two weeks later.
“I’m thankful they put my locker next to Terry,” Osborn said.
The locker room volume, typically set at a busy restaurant level, turned higher on this post-practice Wednesday. Washington’s playoff matchup against the high-flying Lions would be in three days.
McLaurin and Osborn sat on their stools and talked, muting out player interviews and teammates bantering about the College Football Playoff and Bronny James. The conversation began “organically,” McLaurin said, with Osborn asking Washington’s No. 1 target about his development under heralded Ohio State receiver coach Brian Hartline. It then veered from professional to personal — for over an hour.
McLaurin credits Quinn for establishing an atmosphere where it’s not about creating cyborgs for game day violence but seeking “connectivity among the guys.” That’s ideal for the second-team All-Pro aiming to tear down any perceived walls between himself — the newly minted franchise record-holder with 13 regular-season touchdown receptions — and his teammates.
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He fears, at times, that his comfort in silence can lead to an impression of being closed off and that some teammates are intimidated to approach a player, McLaurin or otherwise, with high status and success. The team motto under Quinn — “Anybody, anywhere, anytime” — can double as the receiver’s belief in personal engagement.
“If you can impact somebody else’s life, that could cause a ripple effect,” McLaurin said. “In the fabric of who I am is giving back.”
McLaurin tries to present an “open-door environment with all of my teammates.” This is not a one-size-fits-all dialogue.
“I want to know that person and meet them where they’re at. If it’s a young guy and they’re just joking and shooting the s—, I can shoot the s—,” McLaurin said.
But the more substantive chats are the 29-year-old’s sweet spot.
“When you find that space where you’re off the field at peace, you have a vision of what you want for your life and your career, and many things in this building become much easier,” McLaurin said. “People don’t notice they’re carrying the baggage of what’s happening outside these walls. It affects your mental health, ability to play, focus and confidence.”
Osborn needed that level of talk.
“To have that kind of talk and for him to share his wisdom, knowing I’m going through a different season … that was pretty cool,” Osborn said.
And there are times when McLaurin speaks up for all to hear.
“Everybody listens,” said special teams ace Jeremy Reaves, part of the team throughout McLaurin’s career. “He never complained. Never made excuses. He’s never been a me guy. It’s always been about winning. That’s the blueprint. I love it when he talks. When he talks, I listen.”
One vocation takeaway for Osborn was McLaurin’s eye discipline when catching a football. Whether JUGS machine drills after practice or in live action, McLaurin watches the ball into his hands.
“We’ve been catching balls since we were in Pee Wee league,” Osborn said. “To see him focus on the mundane basics and look every pass in — people don’t appreciate the concentration it takes. Even a blink or a millisecond of distraction can break that concentration.”
McLaurin finished third in contested catch rate in the 2024 regular season and upped the percentage to 67.6 on 37 targets when including the playoffs, per Pro Football Focus.
His conversation with Osborn wasn’t just football-centric, as they discussed various topics, including their spiritual connection. The fact that it occurred four days before McLaurin’s first-ever divisional-round game with a new teammate and seldom-used player made the exchange more remarkable.
“I was already a fan of (Terry’s) game,” Osborn said. “Getting to know him as a person, I have even more respect.”
McLaurin, the man, brought his father to tears.
The receiver, who signed a three-year, $68.2 million extension in 2022, didn’t grow up with economic privilege.
Warmth, love and the belief in offering a helping hand were abundant inside the household of Terry Sr., who spent 30 years in the car finance industry, and Grace, McLaurin’s mom who spent 25 years in the IT field. Terry and his sister, Miah, were there for the family’s annual Christmas parties, and he occasionally went with his mother when she volunteered at an underprivileged school.
“It’s part of your inner soul. It is just something we enjoyed doing,” Terry Sr. said. “We loved it and saw the benefits. Terry has taken it to a different level.”
The events through his Terry McLaurin Foundation began in 2022. Framed around McLaurin’s 27th birthday, 75 local kids in need were invited to Washington’s home stadium, then known as FedEx Field. The bouncy house and red T-shirts with McLaurin’s No. 17 were big hits. Bringing the face-painted kids and their families into the home locker room for a meet-and-greet with McLaurin took the cake.
Terry Sr. came to lend support. Among the people he met was a woman and her three adopted children. Terry Sr. didn’t pry into the nature of the adoption, but he sensed that a tragedy led to the circumstances. Whatever darkness existed, meeting their football hero brought light into their lives. The children told Terry Sr. that they love his son, the football star. The mother expressing that McLaurin is a role model for her kids set off the crying for Terry Sr.
“With the children, you see why it means so much to them,” McLaurin said. “With the grown-ups, it’s a different story.”
The tears were also about a parent seeing the son he raised to become a man of character idolized for more than his 40-yard dash time. The child embraced his parents’ advice: Stay focused and grounded. Remain a believer in your faith.
“It’s easy to go down a (dark) hole,” McLaurin said, nodding to Washington’s football follies.
The idea of McLaurin playing anywhere besides Washington seems extremely unlikely, considering his value to the franchise and the area. Expect extension talks before his current deal expires after next season. Terry Sr. doesn’t typically talk about the future with his son but acknowledges some touch-and-go moments amid the dismal campaigns.
In a recent conversation, McLaurin told his father “he would love to finish his career right there in Washington,” Terry Sr. said. “He loves the community. The community seems to love him.”
McLaurin is set to marry his high school sweetheart, Caitlin, this offseason. Raising a family around Northern Virginia is appealing.
“I think there is a very high possibility he could be a lifer there,” Terry Sr. said. “(Now) he’s elated because he’s seen the other side. He’s been diligent, he’s been faithful. The wheels have turned — and thank God for that.”
Despite those three hours McLaurin spends on the field constantly bleeding Washington burgundy and gold, he doesn’t stray from the bigger mission outside those white lines.
“Any chance that I get to pass on my knowledge, answer questions or be there for somebody outside of the game brings me that life balance and brings out the human side,” McLaurin said. “Football is what we do, not who we are.”
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; photos: Scott Taetsch / Getty Images)
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