Remembering former Colts player Booger McFarland, who announced game on 'Monday Night Football'

Anthony McFarland didn't play much for the Indianapolis Colts. Also, no one knew him as "Anthony." He's "Booger."

McFarland, who helped the Colts win a Super Bowl in his (less than) one season on the field here, returned to Indianapolis as part of the "Monday Night Football" announcing crew that he joined this season. He called Monday night's preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.

He's happy to be back in town.

"It's amazing. My two years here, I loved it," he said from the Lucas Oil Stadium sideline entering the fourth quarter during the MNF broadcast.

Here's some of what Booger offered the Colts, with coverage from the IndyStar archives.

His arrival

He came to the Colts in a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 17, 2006. He had played five games for the Bucs, who were 1-4 at the time. The Colts were 5-0 but needed a big body in the middle of the defensive line because Corey Simon was lost for the season to injury. The Colts gave up a second-round draft pick in the following year's draft.

McFarland had played for Colts coach Tony Dungy in Tampa and won a Super Bowl with the Bucs.

"Hey, man, in five minutes I gained four wins," McFarland said in his first interview. "It was definitely a pretty good deal." 

The Colts were last in the league at the time in rushing yards allowed per game and per attempt. 

Making an impact

McFarland posted his first sack with the Colts against Buffalo on Nov. 10. Through four games in Indy, he had been in on 16 tackles.

"I thought (Buffalo) was really his best game," Dungy said at the time. "He's learning what we do, learning his teammates and just getting a little more comfortable week in and week out. That was kind of his type of game and he was productive inside and had some good rushes when he got the chance."

Prevailing through struggles

The Colts went 2-3 in December that season, and they had a lot of trouble stopping the run. The Jacksonville Jaguars racked up 375 rushing yards against them.

"You always believe it every day," McFarland said of the unit's ability to bounce back. "You always believe every play is your play, every game is your game." 

Postseason run 

McFarland, who was in on 33 tackles and had 2.5 sacks in 11 regular-season games, had two sacks in the playoffs, including one in the Super Bowl against the Chicago Bears. The defense stuffed opponents' rushing games throughout the playoffs (44 yards for Kansas City, 83 for Baltimore, 93 for New England, 111 for Chicago).

McFarland recalled with Colts.com what changed for the Colts on that Super Bowl run.

"Tony (Dungy)’s like, ‘We’re not gonna change anything. You know, defensively we weren’t playing well; we’re just going to do our job and do it at a higher level.’ And that’s one of the most profound moments not only in that season, but in life. Because sometimes it’s not about changing and revamping and doing things differently. Sometimes it’s about doing things better. And that moment there, we did our jobs better and we went into the postseason, we beat Kansas City, we beat Baltimore, and then, just like anything in life, you’re gonna have to get by your nemesis, and for us to get by New England, at home, in the RCA Dome, to get an opportunity to go to the Super Bowl, it’s so many little lessons and nuances about life that I learned."

McFarland suffered a career-ending knee injury in the next season's training camp.