AJ McCarron eyeing another sport when football days are over

AJ McCarron is trying to win a starting NFL quarterback job for the first time in his career this summer, but the former Alabama star admits he has thought about life after football. When he eventually decides to turn in his pads and helmet, McCarron wants to pursue something a little more high-speed.

Speaking at his annual free football camp in Mobile on Saturday, McCarron revealed his love for auto racing.

“Eventually, I want to get into racing,” he said, via Mark Inabinett of AL.com. “My grandfather raced at Irvington back in the day when it was a dirt track and then Sunny South (in Grand Bay). I want to get into racing eventually. I love it. I do IRacing a lot with some of my NASCAR buddies.”

McCarron grew up around racing, and he used to serve as the grand marshal every year when the ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competed at MIS. He said he envisions starting with small circuits and trying to work his way up.

“Eventually, I want to work up to the pro trucks that they run at short tracks, whether it’s Pensacola or Mobile,” McCarron said. “Maybe eventually a late model or a super late model. It’d also be fun to get on a big track like maybe the ARCA Series eventually and try to do something like that. But I don’t know. I love it, and, hopefully, one day it will happen.

I think it’s just the rush and competing. Trying to make your car better than the others, and then if it’s not, trying to figure out how you can get ahead of them. I just love it. It’s just something in my blood, probably passed down, and, hopefully, one day …”

Based on some of the reports we have heard this summer, McCarron is no lock to start in Buffalo. If he can’t carve out a starting role with the Bills, he may officially become a career backup. It wouldn’t be a surprise if that and his love for auto racing shortened his NFL days.