BRADY HENDERSON

Anthony McCoy has career day in win over Dallas

Sep 17, 2012, 9:26 AM | Updated: 10:29 am

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By Brady Henderson

Anthony McCoy raced wide open up the seam, needing only to make an easy catch to complete his first career touchdown.

Then again, no catch has seemed easy for McCoy, the tight end whose career with the Seahawks has been defined more by the passes he’s dropped than by the ones he’s caught.

On this play – like he did all day Sunday and like he’s been doing so far in his third season with the Seahawks – McCoy held on.

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Dogged by drops during his first two NFL seasons, Anthony McCoy caught all five passes thrown his way on Sunday, one of which resulted in his first career touchdown. (AP)

What’s been the difference?

“Something my family told me kinda got to me: Just catch the damn ball, Anthony,” he said with a laugh after the Seahawks’ 27-7 win over Dallas. “It was that simple for me.”

McCoy’s 22-yard touchdown grab came in the third quarter with the Seahawks leading 13-7. Seattle lined up with three tight ends bunched to the right, a formation that screams run. Instead, Russell Wilson dropped back to pass and hit McCoy as he crossed the goal line.

“Kind of a relief,” said McCoy, a sixth-round pick in 2010, when asked how it felt to score his first career touchdown. “Now it’s like, now you’ve got your first touchdown, you got a couple catches in the game, now you can just relax and just go out and have fun now.”

McCoy led the Seahawks in receiving during the preseason and again on Sunday, catching all five passes thrown his way for a team-high 41 yards. While that may come as a surprise to those who know McCoy only for his shaky hands and inconsistent play, consider that the Seahawks’ decision to release Kellen Winslow was made a little easier by the strides they felt McCoy has been making.

“He’s further along, playing with more confidence,” fellow tight end Zach Miller said of McCoy. “In the run game he’s definitely come on as a run blocker and you see what he did today in the pass game.”

McCoy joked afterward that he was so wide open on his touchdown grab that he was already planning his celebration while the ball was in the air. When he caught it, McCoy handed the ball to a fan, turned around with a giant smile on his face and pointed with both hands to his last name on the back of his jersey.

“I had to point to [the back of my jersey and] let everybody know who I am now,” he said with another laugh.

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