Born and raised in
Battle Creek, Michigan, McGee played college football at the
University of Wyoming in
Laramie. In his junior season was off to a ranked #16 in the and appeared headed for a fourth straight
conference title. But on Friday, October 17, the day before the home game against
BYU, McGee and thirteen other African American players went to head coach office to discuss how they might participate in a protest called by the UW Black Students Alliance against
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tenet which prohibited black men from becoming
priests. As soon as Eaton saw them wearing black arm bands, he took them into the
Memorial Fieldhouse bleachers and immediately informed them they were all off the team because they violated the coach's rule against participating The rule was withdrawn the next week, but the players were not reinstated. McGee and five others were starters, and after this, the Wyoming football program was not the same. Although the suddenly all-white Cowboys defeated BYU and
San Jose State to improve to they lost their four road games in November. In
1970, the Cowboys went and Eaton "retired" from coaching, reassigned to assistant Wyoming posted only one winning season in the 1970s, Three of the Black 14 underclassmen returned to the team but McGee finished his college career in
Texas at
Bishop College in
Dallas. He was projected to be a first round pick in the
1971 NFL draft, but fell to the
third round (64th overall) because word passed around that he was a troublemaker due to his dismissal from Wyoming and his involvement ==Professional career==