LAURINBURG — The Cincinnati Bengals have signed former Scotland High School running back Tony McRae to their practice quad.
McRae led Scotland to a state 4A championship in 2011 rushing for 1,252 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. His stellar performance at Scotland landed into a starting position at North Carolina A&T University as a cornerback for the Aggies.
The 5-foot 9-inch 172-pound corner, played four seasons for A&T and was a first-team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference selection as a senior and a second-team selection as a return specialist. ESPN had McRae pegged as the 85th-best cornerback prospect entering the 2016 NFL Draft.
McRae got his start in the NFL back with the Oakland Raiders as a college free agent, but was released by the team in May 2016. In August, the Bengals signed McRae to their practice squad after an injury once again sidelined corner Darqueze Dennard.
McRae played well in the preseason for the Bengals, recording eight tackles in four games, but didn’t do enough to edge out Chykie Brown, who grabbed the last cornerback spot on the team’s roster. McRae was then released by the team in September, shortly after joining the team.
Brown was just placed on injured reserve last week, signaling the Bengals’ need for a cornerback on the practice squad, in case of emergency. The Bengals do not have any other defensive backs on the practice squad — so they called upon McRae who resigned with the Bengals as the team’s only practice squad corner back.
