By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Former NC State star Alim McNeill is putting in the work early morning on a Wednesday. The Detroit Lions wreaking ball defensive tackle is always looking to get better.
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“That’s just how I was raised just to work — don’t complain about it, if you want it you have to go get it — so still working, that’s all I really know,” said McNeill.
And that attitude has worked just fine for McNeill, who burst onto the scene less than a decade ago at Sanderson High School. McNeill played linebacker and running back for the Spartans before becoming a First Team All-American at NC State, with his Wolfpack days paving the way for the success he’s had at the NFL level.
“The combination of the workouts, the practices, the meetings, all of that stuff, it builds a certain character and you take it with you the rest of your life,” said McNeill. “You can learn to apply those certain lessons you learned in football and use it in real-life. You’ve got to work and run hard in football to be good, [and] you’ve got to do the same thing in real life.”
McNeill’s college playing days wrapped up before NIL became a big deal, and that’s okay with him. But you can bet McNeill would have been well-sought after had the money been around when he played. State fans, though, could breath easy.
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“I don’t think we’d have been chasing a check or anything like that. It’s not who we are,” said McNeill. “We’d have went to the school that made sense for me. I could play, I could get a great degree and lived a regular life had football not worked.”
But football has worked for McNeill. Two years ago he signed a four-year, $97 million dollar contract with the Lions. That is superstar money.
“I just don’t see myself that way, I don’t believe myself that way. I just carry myself like Alim from Raleigh,” said McNeill. “I just don’t see myself that way.”
“Alim from Raleigh.” It’s not exactly a flashy moniker, but it’s one that Alim McNeill is more than comfortable with.
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