It wasn’t exactly the type of NFL debut Alex Mack anticipated.
As the 21st overall pick in the 2009 draft lined up for his first snap with the Cleveland Browns, he saw two purple monsters standing in front him.
He wasn’t hallucinating.
"We played the Vikings, and they had Kevin and Pat Williams," Mack recalled. "They gave me my welcome-to-the-NFL moment."
The speed of the Williams boys was overwhelming. Mack couldn’t keep up with the stunts the duo ran in unison. And Mack’s first shotgun snap with Pat Williams breathing all over him -- a snap to Josh Cribbs out of the Wildcat -- was a little high.
"My technique was probably terrible," Mack said. "And it was not a fun game. I’m not going to pull up that game anymore, because it was ugly. At that moment, I was like, 'All right, I’ve got some serious work to do.'"
Maybe Mack was a little too hard on himself, according to then-Browns starting quarterback Brady Quinn.
``He was strong,'' Quinn said. ``He was quick off the ball. He did things that I seldom seen from a rookie center. Smart. Made his rookie mistakes, but you could tell right away he had a very bright future.''
Mack did something right to become the player he is today. He evolved into a three-time Pro Bowler on a Browns team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002. He developed into one of the most coveted names on the free-agent market this offseason after opting out of the final three years of his contract.
The Atlanta Falcons swooped in and made the 30-year-old Mack the league’s highest-paid center with a five-year, $45 million contract. Now the kid who entered the league overwhelmed has to guard against underwhelming after signing such a lucrative deal.
"I have high expectations of myself, and I know Atlanta has high expectations of me as well," Mack said. "And I’m going to do everything in my ability to meet those and even surpass those expectations. Being the guy who I’ve always been and just working hard and striving for excellence is the best I can do. And I hope we have the success we want."
So who is Alex Mack? He is a California kid who played offensive and defensive tackle at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, the same school that produced MMA fighter Chuck Liddell and biker/singer Eric Anzalone of "The Village People."
Mack was macho enough to double as a high school heavyweight wrestler and finished second in the state in his weight class.
"Thanks for bringing up the loss," he said.
Mack went on to college at Cal as an unheralded, two-star recruit who redshirt immediately. He played center exclusively at Cal thanks to the intuition of then-offensive line coach Jim Michalczik, the guy Mack credited most for the development of his sound technique.
"I knew how to snap because I did that a little bit in high school, so I knew how to play center," Mack said. "I was like 275, but I wasn’t big enough to be a tackle anymore. I don’t think I could do that position with success at this level. Center is a position that fits me very well."
Mack had no problem with the mental aspect of the game. He had a reputation as a highly intelligent player and a player capable of making all the right calls at the line of scrimmage. He put his mind to good use in the classroom as he won the Draddy Trophy in 2008 as the nation’s top scholar-athlete. Mack majored in legal studies.
"It was more of U.S. history through the eyes of the law," Mack said. "Will I go into law after football? Most likely not. Trying to take the Bar exam and going to law school and starting at the bottom of some law firm is not what I really want to do when I’m done playing."
Besides, Mack believes he still has plenty of good NFL years left in him. And he already survived a few obstacles on his way to Atlanta.
The first was a broken left fibula suffered during the 2014 season. He played in just five games, although he recovered and played all 16 games last season and made the Pro Bowl.
"It was tough," Mack said of the injury. "It wasn’t a fun experience, breaking my leg. I do not recommend it."
The other obstacle was keeping his sanity while the world around him inside the Cleveland locker room imploded. He was there throughout the Johnny Manziel saga and Josh Gordon suspension. Mack played under four head coaches and would have seen a fifth in Hue Jackson had he re-signed in Cleveland. He also played under six different offensive coordinators, including head coach Pat Shurmur in 2011.
"I learned that football seasons have their ups and downs," Mack said. "The important thing is to worry about your job. What you can do is worry about how you can be the best player possible. Our goal as an offensive line -- and my goal is part of that -- is to do your job as well as possible."
Though he might have turned a deaf ear on the negativity, Mack didn’t want it to be perceived that he turned his back on his teammates. He admitted the toughest part of the whole free-agent process was leaving behind the tight-knit bond he established with guys such as left tackle Joe Thomas and the other offensive linemen.
"Opting out of my contract was a tough decision, but the tougher one was actually moving on from Cleveland," Mack said. "Leaving my teammates and my friends and the people in that building and the people that made the city of Cleveland special, that was the tough part. That was a big challenge to get over. There are amazing people out there and I think the world of them. I’ll miss them forever and they’ll be friends until the day I die."
Now in Atlanta, Mack reunites with Kyle Shanahan, his one-time offensive coordinator in Cleveland. Shanahan’s outside-zone blocking scheme fits Mack perfectly with his ability to get out and move to pave holes in the running game.
But one aspect at least one long-time personnel guy said Mack might have trouble with is big, strong defensive linemen like he’ll face in the NFC South with the Carolina tandem of Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei.
Mack will be ready. He’s far from the same player who took on Kevin and Pat Williams seven seasons ago.
"Yeah, D-tackles are good, so I do what I can do," Mack said. "Not that I’m going to argue with the (personnel) guy, because that’s his opinion, but I think I’m pretty stout."
Based on their shaky center play last season, the Falcons need Mack to be just that, and then some.