‘P lay the next play’
By STYLIANA RESVANIS
Recent UF College of Medicine graduate and
former Florida Gators football player Michael
McNeely looks forward to a bright future as a
family medicine physician.
Everything moved slowly and quickly at the
same time. The Gators were down in the second
quarter of the annual Florida-Georgia football
game, but Michael McNeely tuned out the crowd
noise and focused on one task: “Catch the ball,
then go from there.”
He had worked on this play for days. He lined
up to hold the ball for a field goal attempt but
instead darted down the field for a touchdown.
Everything around him stood still as he ran those
21 yards to the end zone, a move that turned the
tide of the game on Nov. 1, 2014, resulting in a
win for the Gators.
“It was surreal; as soon as the ball was snapped,
everything happened really fast,” McNeely says.
“Before I knew it, my teammates were on me,
celebrating, and all I could think was, ‘Did that
just happen?’ I couldn’t let it sink in because we
had to move on to the next play.”
McNeely — a walk-on wide receiver for the
Gators who earned the nickname “fake-kick hero”
for that moment and made headlines from ESPN
to Yahoo Sports — graduated from UF with a
bachelor’s degree in fall 2014, trading his jersey
for a white coat. After four years at the UF College
of Medicine, he now turns his attention to the
next play: a family medicine residency at Eglin Air
Force Base in the Florida Panhandle.
“I decided to join the military because it’s an
excellent opportunity to give back to a country
that’s provided so many opportunities for me,”
says McNeely, a Clearwater native. “It’s an honor
to not only serve the country but also to directly
care for those who are doing the same.”
He was first drawn to health care as a child,
when his mom would come home from work
overflowing with stories about her job as a
pediatrician. When McNeely hit the football
field as a high school athlete, he gained an
appreciation for the physicians who patched him
up and helped him continue pursuing
his passion.
His interest in family medicine kicked in during
his first preceptorship as a UF medical student at
Orlando’s Grace Medical Home, a primary care
clinic for the underserved.
“That first exposure to clinical medicine
changed my whole perspective,” he says.
“Following my military commitment, I’d like
to open a doctor’s office like that for people
who don’t have access to health care. There’s
a shortage of primary care physicians in our
country, and I’d like to help. That’s where my
heart is. The beauty is that you get to build
relationships with patients and walk through
little victories with them.”
As he takes the next step in his professional
journey, the 2019 graduate says he will hold
onto the lessons he’s learned at UF — on and off
the field.
“We have a saying in football: ‘Play the next
play,’” says McNeely, noting that he has called
upon this phrase in situations ranging from
rigorous medical school exams to challenging
patient encounters. “Regardless of how the
last play went, there’s another coming up. You
need to forget what happened on the last play,
whether your emotional state is high or low, to
collect yourself and enter that next play in a place
where you can do your best.”
PHOTO BY JESSE S. JONES
DOCTOR GATOR | 5