D-Mac: The silent but deadly hitter

Penn linebacker Darren MacDonald may have the hardest hit in the Ivies. If Darren MacDonald was a president, he'd probably be Teddy Roosevelt -- walking softly and carrying a big stick. The two-time All-Ivy selection has started at linebacker since his sophomore year, leads the Quakers' defense with 184 career tackles (125 solo) and is one of the most feared linebackers in the Ivy League -- he'd just rather not talk about that. By all accounts, MacDonald is a mild-mannered, soft spoken guy. But once he steps onto the football field, all bets are off. "When he gets on the field, he's all business," senior defensive lineman Larry Rascoe said. "I don't even know how to explain it -- it's like a whole different world to him. "He just goes out there and tries to knock the crap out of everybody." D-Mac, as he is known by his teammates, started turning heads as soon as he arrived at Penn, registering 29 tackles his freshman year. But he announced his arrival with a single hit. Late in the fourth quarter in the final game of his freshman season, Cornell was at the goal line threatening to score. MacDonald, the third linebacker, came in with the goal line defense. Cornell running back (and now the Oakland Raiders starting full back) Chad Levitt took the ball up the middle, but MacDonald filled the hole and leveled him, jarring the ball loose. Then defensive lineman Tom McGarity picked up the fumble and ran it up the sideline. "D-Mac showed everybody he was going to be a star," Rascoe said. "Right then and there you knew he was going to be something special." But Macdonald typically downplayed the sequence. "I came unblocked into the hole, and I just happened to put my helmet right on the ball and the ball squirted out," MacDonald said. His on-the-field aggression was not reserved exclusively for his opponents, however. "I was doing scout [offense] freshman year, and we were doing short yardage drills in front of the goal line," senior offensive lineman Jesse Simonin said. "I was pulling around to hit someone, and I'm going to hit D-Mac and he runs right through my facemask. Then I'm sitting out the rest of practice with a friggin' headache." With his impressive freshman campaign, MacDonald quickly became an integral part of the Quakers' defense, starting at linebacker the next year. "I didn't know what to expect coming into [Penn]," he said. "Things happened pretty quickly and I just went with it." MacDonald, however, needed more than an affinity for inflicting pain to rise into the Ivy League's elite. He combines a rare blend of technique, athleticism and raw power. "He moves really well," Simonin said. "He gets downhill to find the ball quickly and he'll run through you. He understands the way offenses move. His biggest problem is that he gets there too fast." Although he is not a captain by name, MacDonald remains a leader on the field. "The team looks to him as a leader not so much in what he says, any speeches or anything," junior defensive lineman Brent Stiles said. "[He leads] by virtue of what he does. "I don't know how many times I've seen a running back at full speed just stop dead in his tracks or bounce backwards three or four yards." MacDonald prefers the non-vocal style of leadership, which he and co-captain senior cornerback Joe Piela both employ. "Neither of us try to go out there and get in anybody's face and yell," MacDonald said. "We just go out there and do our jobs. "Hopefully by doing that other people will follow along." Penn defensive coordinator Mike Toop thinks his defense will feed off of the laconic linebacker. "He's not real talkative, but that's fine," Toop said. "As long as he brings it every week, I don't care." MacDonald leads not only by bruising opposing running backs, but also by bruising egos as well. "You want to top him [after a big play]," Rascoe said. "He's one of the hardest hitters in the Ivy League, so you want to show him up. "You get jealous, you want to make a hit just like that." The Quakers' defense needs MacDonald's presence to offset the losses of starters Mitch Marrow, Tim Gage and Doug Zinser. Furthermore, according to Mike Toop, as MacDonald goes, so go the Quakers. "A year ago, when Darren played very well, we usually played well as a defense," Toop said. "When he didn't have one of his better games, our defense would struggle at times. "If we're going to be good, [he] has to perform at a very high level." Penn's own Jekyll and Hyde looks at his transformation very simply. "When you step out on the field, it's like you're going to work," MacDonald said. "It's all business. It's either you're going to go out there and do your thing or someone's going to kick your butt. "Do it with all you've got." Maybe Macdonald is not the most famous "Mac" in the country these days. Then again, he probably doesn't mind.

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