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Jets sign Hofstra invitee McMackin to contract

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

May 5, 2008

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As Shawn McMackin sat in the Jets' locker room Saturday between practices at the team's rookie minicamp, the offensive lineman surveyed his surroundings.

"Playing for Hofstra and having the Jets in your backyard, it really is a dream come true," McMackin said.

And that was him speaking merely as a tryout invitee.

Yesterday, McMackin's lot improved considerably. He left the three-day camp with a contract in hand.

"I'm absolutely speechless," he said yesterday afternoon. "I'm just absolutely elated. I'm speechless now. I don't know what to say."

Neither did McMackin's father, Robert.

At the conclusion of yesterday morning's workout, McMackin said, one of the team's college scouts sent him to meet with Ari Nissim, who handles contracts for the Jets. After McMackin and his agent, Andrew Bondarowicz, worked out the contract details, McMackin called home.

"I told my dad and he asked me if I was joking," said McMackin, a River Vale, N.J., product. "I told him no. He told me if I was joking, not to come home."

McMackin's signing coincided with the release of two of the team's rookie free agents who were signed after the draft: Brett Byford, a center from Nebraska, and Al Phillips, a cornerback from Wagner.

The 6-4, 295-pound McMackin, whether in practice or in games, lined up at all five offensive line positions at some point during his Hofstra career. The position McMackin was least experienced in, and least comfortable with, was center. Naturally, Bill Callahan, brought in as an assistant this offseason to coach the Jets' offensive line and work with the running game, asked him to execute some center-quarterback exchanges.

McMackin's response?

"Yes, sir," McMackin said with a laugh.

Hofstra coach Dave Cohen said Jets director of player personnel Terry Bradway told him yesterday that McMackin's versatility and work ethic stood out. That didn't surprise Cohen, who called McMackin an "athletic specimen."

"You always want to see the hardest workers succeed," Cohen said. "He's just tireless."

Making the active roster is still a long shot for McMackin, but so too was getting this far. As of last night, he was the only one of the 34 tryout invitees to be signed by the team.

McMackin said he has two weeks off before he has to report back to the Jets' practice facility, but "off" is misleading. McMackin has a thick Jets playbook to study and tape to watch in learning the intricacies of five offensive line positions.

McMackin, laughing again, emphasized he has no preference. "Wherever they need me," he said.