Will McDonald IV, who took an unconventional path to NFL success, is the subject of a documentary that chronicles his days in Waukesha.
Third-year New York Jets pass rusher Will McDonald IV, who had a breakout season with 10½ sacks last year, sat down with the Jets' in-house video team for a 48-minute documentary called "Origins" about his crazy journey to NFL that spotlighted his roots in the Milwaukee area.
Born in Milwaukee, McDonald considered himself a basketball player until midway through his time at North, when then-football coach Matt Harris said he begged and pleaded McDonald to give football a try.
The documentary interviews family members and former coaches Harris, Steve Petersen and Dan D'Amico, as well as coaches at Iowa State, plus North teacher Kristin Hubmann and even Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Curt Hogg, who covered McDonald's teams as a prep sports reporter.
The film includes anecdotes about what McDonald overcame, from his naivete about football to the financial hardships that his family dealt with. Coaches discovered that McDonald was occasionally sleeping in a car in Waukesha after his family moved back to Milwaukee, allowing him to stay closer to school and jobs at two adjacent fast-food restaurants, at which point Harris invited McDonald to stay in his house.
Harris detailed a game in 2016 when North — hardly a football behemoth with only eight playoff qualifications in program history — stunned local powerhouse Arrowhead, 26-20. It marked the first program win over Arrowhead since 1999, and McDonald caught the decisive touchdown while creating havoc on defense.
"It kind of was like the turning point of not just our football, but the entire school," Harris said, also noting the twist that Harris now serves as head football coach at Arrowhead. "We finally have figured out how to win and how to beat teams. There was a lot of great players on that team, but Will McDonald was the guy.
"I believe that Will McDonald changed the course of the high school," Harris said later. "He changed the course of a lot of us."
McDonald also won the Division 1 state discus championship in 2018 wearing Chuck Taylor sneakers; Harris said McDonald declined an offer of event-appropriate footwear because he felt he'd already received enough from Harris.
McDonald also drove to Iowa State with a bumper fastened by duct tape. It's a far cry from where he stands now — the documentary even opens on McDonald showing off sports cars.
After tying the Big 12 sacks record at Iowa State (34) and becoming the program's first first-round draft pick in 50 years when he went No. 15 to the Jets in 2023, McDonald flourished on the field. Iowa State Matt Campbell called McDonald "one of the best leaders we've ever had."
The documentary includes footage from the McDonald draft party, surrounded by many of the interview subjects when he received the call from the Jets. Illustrating his competitiveness, Petersen said McDonald was furious to lose multiple games of Connect Four, even after the draft coverage had been long under way.
"I'm not trying to just leave a legacy," McDonald said. "I'm trying to be generational."
The Origins series will also feature an episode with another Jets player possessing Wisconsin ties: Former Badgers lineman Joe Tippmann, whom the Jets selected in the second round of the same draft as McDonald.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Waukesha roots at heart of documentary about Jets' Will McDonald IV
Category: General Sports
