The Celebrity

Another interesting facet of McKinley’s student athlete lifestyle was that he was, in a sense, a celebrity. Bob McKinley said that everyone knew him on campus. Butch Newman also commented on this saying that when they would travel with Trinity, people would come to watch them practice, filling the stands. Newman compared this to having Roger Federer playing for your university’s tennis team; In fact, McKinley did hold a top world ranking while at Trinity. However, with this status, Newman affirmed that McKinley’s demeanor never changed. He even said “I have had bigger egos on my D3 team than what Chuck had.” The star always kept his head down and worked as hard as he possibly could, Newman added. This humble, hard-working attitude that McKinley had in perfect balance is what made his professional, and celebrity, and student, and athlete lifestyle achievable.