Mack Hollins Special start to his Raiders career, and why hes excited about the offense – The Athletic

Mack Hollins just wanted to get close to the star athletes.

The new Raiders receiver attended the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando two weeks ago and went to dinner with several athletes who won medals.

It might have been an even bigger deal to Hollins than it was to the athletes. Hollins has been volunteering with the Special Olympics for five years and has worked his way up to being a champion ambassador for the organization.

I get more access to the athletes, Hollins said last week in a telephone interview. The athletes are what has always drawn me to it. Just the way that they really attack anything in life and how genuine they are. They have no ulterior motive, they are just there playing sports that they love, and they are going to treat you like you treat them.

They dont need anything out of me. They think its cool that I play for the Raiders, but they could care less, at the end of the day. Theyre just happy to have another supporter watching them.

Hollins reached the NFL despite not having any Division I offers coming out of high school, but the obstacles he overcame pale in comparison to those of many of his lifelong friends.

People put them down, people tell them they cant do something and they still persevere and they continue to be able to be great that is so great for me to see as an athlete, Hollins said. I realized that I had a pretty easy road. Nobody told me I couldnt do it the way that these athletes were told their whole lives, and yet, here they are competing for Olympic gold.

Terrence Thornton, the executive director of Special Olympics Nevada, said Hollins involvement is really important to the athletes.

We focus on inclusion, and we work really hard to get peers that love sports that want to engage with our athletes, Thornton said. Pro athletes like Mack participating in sports with them fosters that spirit of inclusion, and helps them be at their greatest. Theyre inspired to work hard and have discipline to meet their personal goals when it comes to their sport. Its very special to them.

Hollins and Raiders punter AJ Cole also participated in a send-off at Caesars Palace for Nevada athletes before the USA Games, and the Raiders are one of the signature sponsors for the Special Olympics fall flag football season.

As a champion ambassador, Hollins not only gives his time and serves as a role model, but helps promote awareness of the Special Olympics and their inclusion programs.

These are people with intellectual disabilities, but when it comes to sports, they definitely have ability, and professional athletes like Mack help spread that message of inclusion, Thornton said.

Hollins, 28, grew up in Rockville, Md., and first learned about the Special Olympics because he had a neighbor who competed.

And then I got to college, and one of my close teammates had a brother who competed who had intellectual disabilities, so I got a little bit closer and started doing a little bit more, Hollins said.

Hollins was drafted by the Eagles in the fourth round in 2017, and won a Super Bowl ring as a special teams player as a rookie before sustaining a groin injury in 2018 and being waived in December 2019. He was claimed by the Dolphins, and thats when his career and his involvement with the Special Olympics really took off.

I started speaking for Special Olympics at radio row at the Super Bowl, Hollins said. Then I became an ambassador, and this past year I became a champion ambassador. We had a Zoom call over COVID on Capitol Hill to try and raise funds, went to schools and different things like that. My role has grown, but my passion has always been there.

Hollins is also very excited for a new start with the Raiders. After having a combined 30 catches for 399 yards and five touchdowns with the Dolphins the last two years, the 6-foot-4, 221 pounder may match those numbers. It seems there is a good chance he will be the Raiders No. 4 target behind receivers Davante Adams and Hunter Renfrow and tight end Darren Waller.

Yeah, Im super excited, Hollins said when he signed. Going into my sixth year, its always exciting to be able to play football, but its a little different coming here because I think I can really get an opportunity to excel here.

Raiders fans will remember Hollins from a loss to the Dolphins in Week 16 of 2020 that cost them a possible playoff spot. Miami quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, while having his facemask grabbed and ripped back by Arden Key, completed a 34-yard, no-look pass to Hollins with 12 seconds remaining. The completion and 15-yard penalty set up a last-second score and 26-25 win for the Dolphins.

I figure its only right I come back and try to do a few more of those plays in Silver and Black, Hollins said.

Hollins is confident that Raiders coach Josh McDaniels will bring out the best in him, and he loves how players move around in this offense.

You see (Hunter) Renfrow out wide, you see him in the slot. Its not really one dimensional, Hollins said after he signed. And I think thats big for me because I think I can be more than an outside guy. I think in the NFL, a lot of times you get put in the box. If youre over 6-3, then youre an outside guy. If youre under 6-2, then youre an inside guy, and if youre in the gap in between, youre just kind of, I dont know, are you fast enough to run by guys or not?

Hollins feels he will be able to earn a bigger role than he has had in the past. Where on the field that will be should be determined in training camp next month.

Thats encouraging to go out there and play your heart out and theyll make the puzzle pieces fit, he said.

Hollins led the nation in yards per catch (24.8) as a junior at North Carolina. He said he has worked hard so that his route running is on par with his ability to stretch the field.

I can go in the slot, and I can beat defenders one-on-one, he said.

He has always been a hard worker with a serious approach to the game, dating back to his senior year at Wootton High School. Hollins came to school wearing a suit and tie and carrying a briefcase that year.

You dress for the job you want, Hollins told Capital News Service back then, not the job you have.

He spent a year at Fork Union Military Academy before walking on at North Carolina.

Never getting comfortable with where you are, never thinking youve arrived, Hollins said. And thats the message of the NFL once you think youve arrived, thats when they ship you out. So, just continuing to put in work, continuing to act like its 2017 and Im a rookie coming out of North Carolina. And thats how Ill continue to elevate my game and continue to make plays when called upon.

Just like the Special Olympics athletes who Hollins cheers on.

Being able to play sports with them is always a blast, Hollins said. People discredit the abilities of people who are intellectually disabled. They just think that they cant do half the stuff that people say normal people can do, but they do everything maybe a little bit slower or in a different way, but they got sass and they got jokes and they can do everything.

Everybody has a little niche that they are great at The Special Olympics has helped me take away the excuses. These athletes are performing at an extremely high level, and here I am at practice, ready to make an excuse as to why I cant do something, and I remember that there are people pushing through way harder things with way more people doubting them.

(Top photo courtesy of Special Olympics Nevada)

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Mack Hollins Special start to his Raiders career, and why hes excited about the offense - The Athletic