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By Cameron Kiszla
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An NFL cornerback is speaking out against the trend of defenders avoiding hard hits, noting that it's part of the job.
Speaking with Ari Meirov of the 33rd Team, Kool-Aid McKinstry of the New Orleans Saints made clear that he views contact as an essential part of the job, using the common euphemism "business decision" to indicate when a player avoids a hit that could possibly lead to an injury.
"I’m a team player. There’s no such thing as a business decision in my mind," he told Meirov. "I feel like tackling is definitely a 'want to,' and that's something I want to do. If you know me, my friends, I'm a very tough guy. That's just me, so tackling, I love it. I embrace it."
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‘You Better Go to the Offensive Side of the Ball'
McKinstry walks the walk in addition to talking the talk.
In 2025, his second season in the NFL, he had 76 total tackles to go along with his 17 passes defended and three interceptions.
And of those 76 tackles, 59 were solo tackles.
NFL/Savant put his 4.4 tackles per game in the top 40% of NFL defensive backs for the 2025 season.
On its own, that number may not seem special, but the 17 passes defended are in the top 1% of the league, and the three interceptions put him in the top 3% of the league.
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Often, it's those pass-defense specialists who will avoid contact, seeing their value to the team as deriving from their pass coverage.
McKinstry doesn't see it that way, and he shares that perspective with younger players when given the chance.
"That's the main thing I talk about," he said. "When I go to these kids camps, I go to the tackling drill before I go to anywhere else. I make sure that kids know that tackling is important. If you can’t tackle, you better go to the offensive side of the ball. There's no other [option]. That's just me being me, I'm a tough guy, I'm hard. That's just me. Tackling definitely is a 'want to,' I say, for corners. You have to want to tackle. And it don’t hurt. I ain’t gonna lie. It don't hurt. Just go do it. Go hard. Go try."
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