Prior to joining the Falcons, he was the general manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1994 to 2003 and was a part of their Super Bowl XXXVII-winning season.

While his father was head coach at USC in Los Angeles, McKay played wide receiver, with quarterback Paul McDonald, at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, California.

[4] On November 8, 1994, McKay was promoted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (as run by a trust set up after the death of Hugh Culverhouse earlier in the year) to serve as general manager.

McKay had served as the vice president of football administration since 1992 and had been a member of the NFL's Competition Committee since being appointed earlier in 1994.

During his tenure as general manager, McKay drafted players such as Warren Sapp, Mike Alstott, Ronde Barber, Derrick Brooks, and Warrick Dunn.

On January 14, 2002, Dungy was fired, against the wishes of McKay, after a second straight lopsided loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round.

So confident was McKay that he started to help Lewis assemble a coaching staff before a face-to-face meeting between Lewis and the Glazers resulted in rejection and a move to push for Gruden (eventually, the team traded two first round picks, two second-round picks, plus $8 million, to the Oakland Raiders, in exchange for Gruden).

[13] McKay is the longest standing member in the history of the NFL Competition Committee (30 consecutive years, 26 of which he has served in the chairmanship role), making him one of the more influential executives in the league.

[14] McKay has served on the NFL Management Council Working Group of League executives that helps advise on collective bargaining issues.[when?]

In April 2015, McKay was suspended from the Competition Committee by the NFL after the Falcons were found guilty of piping crowd noise into the Georgia Dome.