It's the son's time

Zach McMahon, QB, is a junior at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

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At only 16, Glenbrook North's Zach McMahon has heard enough taunts and jeers from fans to fill a lifetime. The worst? ''A bunch of stuff I can't really say,'' McMahon says.

The taunts and jeers, though, are expected if you're the son of one of the most revered quarterbacks in Bears history -- Jim ''The Punky QB'' McMahon.

Like his father, Zach McMahon, a 6-1, 215-pound junior, is a quarterback. He'll lead Glenbrook North tonight when the Spartans play neighborhood rival Glenbrook South in Glenview.

''I'm just warming up, and people are screaming, 'Hey, where's your dad?''' McMahon says. ''It doesn't bother me. It's been like that since I was born.''

McMahon is the latest local high school athlete thrust into the spotlight because of his lineage, joining Marcus and Jeffrey Jordan, Joe Suhey, Horace Grant Jr. and even Miles Smith, Lovie Smith's son.

Similar to those who came before him, McMahon is eager to establish his own identity.

''Zach wants to be his own person,'' Glenbrook North coach Bob Pieper says. ''He has a great resource in his father. But when Zach gets out on the field, it's all him. He has a good sense of the game.''

Still, there are certain expectations and pressures of being the son of a Super Bowl quarterback, McMahon says.

''[People] just look at me like, 'Oh, you're supposed to be amazing,''' McMahon says. ''But I'm me. I'm not him.''

What McMahon is, however, is a big-arm quarterback and a winner, Pieper says.

Glenbrook North finished 4-5 last year, but with McMahon starting the last four games as a sophomore, the team went 3-1. McMahon finished the season with 320 passing yards and three touchdown passes against three interceptions.

If it wasn't for a knee injury he suffered in the first game of the season (a 14-7 loss to Glenbrook South), McMahon would've had a full season of varsity football experience entering his junior year.

''Zach is very excited to get out there,'' Pieper says. ''If there is any added pressure, Zach is putting it on himself. He has been a McMahon his whole life. I'm sure he's used to having to deal with people talking about his dad a lot. It's nothing new to him, being a former QB's son.''

Of course, being a quarterback's son has its benefits. McMahon says his father is always willing to offer him some advice.

''One thing he says is, don't let anything get to you because you know you're going to get stuff from people,'' says McMahon, who has played varsity baseball since his freshman year. ''He says, 'Just play the way you can play.'''