Johnsburg's Jacob McKinney looks to past, present NFL stars for inspiration

Walter Payton’s legacy is everlasting, inspiring football players at every level. For Johnsburg running back Jacob McKinney, Payton’s famous hill sprints have been instrumental in making McKinney faster in the offseason.

“Lots of footwork drills and running hills,” McKinney said. “You just run hills, and you get faster. That’s all you gotta do, [like] Walter Payton.”

During the season, the former Bears great and Pro Football Hall of Famer used to start every day by running up what is known as “Payton’s Hill” in Arlington Heights. More than three decades after Payton started that tradition, his grueling hill sprints would inspire football players far and wide.

McKinney uses hill sprints in the hope of reaching his goals this upcoming season. The senior has a specific target in mind for the Kishwaukee River Conference.

“I’d like to be a top-three rusher in the KRC,” McKinney said. “[As far as] yards per game, I’d like to be over 120 every game at least.”

McKinney continuously is looking to improve his game despite coming off a 900-yard, 13-touchdown season in 2018. He averaged 82.4 yards a game and 4.7 yards a carry as the Skyhawks went 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the KRC. McKinney also had four games with more than 100 rushing yards, with two of those better than his 120-yards-a-game goal for 2019.

Johnsburg coach Sam Lesniak sees McKinney as a “big-time weapon” again in 2019.

“The kid’s really fast,” Lesniak said. “He moves really well. He’s a guy who was dangerous with the ball in his hands last year as a junior.”

Lesniak estimated that McKinney has put on 10 pounds of muscle since last season.

“He’s in great shape right now,” Lesniak said. “He’s doing a great job of that year jump from junior year to senior year, and now it’s helping others to make sure they’re in the right spot. He’s doing things the right way. He’s going to be a big-time weapon. We’re going to get the ball in his hands a bunch and see what he can do.”

Although McKinney has drawn inspiration from past running backs such as Payton for his workout routine, he tries to model his on-field game after a current NFL star.

“One running back I do love is Le’Veon Bell’s running style because he’s a very aggressive runner, but he also has some of the best moves in the NFL,” McKinney said.

“So, I like to have a good all-around build as a runner. I think you should be a powerful back when you have to but be able to make the moves and [have] the speed when you have to, as well.”

McKinney also has learned from Bell’s patience as a runner.

“One thing that I’ve definitely tried to take from him is waiting that extra second for the hole to open to get [those]extra few yards,” McKinney said.