Bentley University

At first glance, Pat McGinn would have been considered by most too small to do any serious damage coming out of the backfield for the Falcons football team.

However, his 5-8, 170-pound frame proved to be to his benefit as he was able to quickly hit holes and challenge members of the opposing defense to get low on him. In short, Pat was to be the proverbial workhorse that helped catapult the Falcons into four consecutive postseason playoff appearances, 1984 through 1987 and a New England Collegiate Football Conference championship in 1987.

In 1984, his first Bentley season, he was handed the ball 52 times and gained a total of 210 yards. He finished the season with a respectable 4.0 yards per carry and was honored with the team's Offensive Most Improved award.

Pat's sophomore season saw him and the Falcons finish the year with a 6-4 record. Coming off the bench, he improved his yards per carry to 5.1 while running for 254.

Pat moved into the starting unit as a junior and delivered as a dependable, hard-nosed, ground-gainer. He ripped off 552 yards on 81 carries to end the season with a whopping 6.8 yards per carry, his career high yards per carry average. His efforts helped the Falcons to another winning season as they posted a 9-1 regular season record. Bentley finished at 10-2 as they were ousted after two playoff games where he contributed 210 more yards.

His senior season would prove to be his most effective as a ball carrier. The Falcons were able to work off of Pat's fire as the team concluded their club years with a 10-1 record that culminated in a 10-7 NECC Championship win over previously unbeaten UMass-Boston. Pat, who scored Bentley's only TD in the title game finished the 1987 season with 1,018 yards, becoming the first back in Bentley history to gallop for 1,000 yards in a season. He was honored with team offensive MVP and conference MVP kudos at the conclusion of the season.

When all was said and done, the Hingham, Massachusetts product walked off the Bentley gridiron with not  only  2,034  career rushing yards on 353 carries. He not only walked off with a very impressive career 5.8 yard per carry and 22 career touchdowns. He walked off the field a true warrior who authored the code of conduct for future Bentley backs and proved that "smaller" guys can be punishing.