Ex-JMU star McGee’s clothing line on rise

HARRISONBURG — Scotty McGee said he always had an artistic side.

It happened to become the former James Madison football star’s second career.

What began as a small T-shirt operation during his time in Harrisonburg is now “Moetivs Clothing,” a Christian-themed company founded and run by McGee and his wife, Danya.

“We believe that one day Moetivs will be the Polo and Nike of believers clothing,” Scotty McGee said.

A lofty goal, sure, but one McGee is confident he’ll reach. It is McGee’s belief, he said, that there’s an untapped market for religious-backed fashion that Moetivs is able to fill. When customers walk into a department store, he wants Moetivs to be on the rack next to other iconic brands, his own self-designed logo — an optical illusion of the Lion of Judah and Jesus on the crucifix — to be what the “swoosh” is to Nike.

The Moetivs brand has tragic roots.

When McGee was 15, his older brother, Marcus, was shot and killed on the campus of Norfolk State University. In honor of his brother, Scotty started making T-shirts and named the movement “MOE” because that was Marcus’ nickname, he said. MOE originally stood for “Money Over Everything,” and the apparel became known as MOE Wear.

McGee said his T-shirt endeavor followed him to James Madison. His “RIP MOE” shirts were a “fairly big” deal on campus, apparel he made no money creating, he said. If he spent $20 to create a shirt, he sold it for $20, he said.

Though he enjoyed his side project, McGee said he continued to focus his efforts on football.

For most James Madison fans, the name Scotty McGee triggers memories of his electrifying kick returns during his career from 2005-09. His most famous play — a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter against Richmond in 2008 to give JMU a 38-31 win — is a play former Madison coach Mickey Matthews called “the most exciting” he’s ever seen.

McGee went on to be drafted in the sixth-round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He didn’t stick in the NFL; knee injuries forced the cornerback/kick returner out of the league.

“It was a matter of him making a decision for his family,” Danya McGee said. “He always had his family in mind when making business decisions, and at the end of the day, that’s what the NFL is, it’s a business.”

Scotty McGee, a 29-year-old native of Virginia Beach, now lives in Jacksonville, Fla., where his brief NFL career ended without an appearance in a regular-season game. The McGees have three sons: 11-year-old Marcus and 5-year-old twins Micai and Moses.

Moetivs Clothing was officially launched on Sept. 21, 2012. “MOE” now stands for “Messiah Over Everything.” Located in Jacksonville, the company has five employees, McGee said, including himself as “creative director.” After two years of outsourcing its production, everything from printing to shipping is done in-house now, allowing Moetivs to turn a profit this past year, McGee said. The clothing is made-to-order, meaning McGee doesn’t have much product sitting around, he said.

McGee said he’s been approached by larger companies interested in buying Moetivs. He said he’s declined all offers.

“For me, it’s not about that. It’s about the message that’s behind the brand,” McGee said. “I don’t want that message to become watered down. We’re a quality brand for believers. There’s many Christian T-shirt companies, but there isn’t a brand that’s a quality that the body of Christ can stand on, and that’s what the Moetivs brand is and what it’ll continue to be.

“Turning down offers from investors was not something that I planned on doing, but also something that through prayer and seeking God out, that was not the way he wanted me to go about doing it. … The heart behind this entire movement and how it all started, it came from a tragedy, a tragic loss. God has lifted it and turned it into a triumph. I can’t sell out. There’s no way.”

McGee said he now travels the country as a motivational speaker, including stops at some of the largest Christian family festivals. He said Moetivs has partnered with televangelist T.D. Jakes’ MegaCARE Missions, a Christian outreach program.

Word of mouth has helped grow Moetivs’ brand, McGee said. His athletic background has also been an asset, his wife said.

“The NFL definitely was a platform, and it’s helped open doors for opportunities that had he not played in the NFL probably wouldn’t have been opened,” Danya McGee said. “It was a necessary means to an end, because when people hear that you’re a football player, especially youth, they listen. When they find out you were with the NFL and that you also love Jesus, ears are opened.”

McGee said he’s spoken with hip-hop clothing manufacturer, designer and creative director Ralph Reynolds about how to succeed in the fashion industry. Reynolds runs RP55 Distribution Services, a company that handles the clothing lines of several rappers, including T.I.

“I meet so many [people] that I typically don’t know the names,” Reynolds said by phone from his Virginia Beach office. “Scotty McGee, I know who he is. That says a lot for me.”

Starting a clothing line, Reynolds said, is “very challenging.” Though he said he used to provide a negative outlook to people looking to break into the industry, Reynolds has seen start-ups like Moetivs make it big, proving the unpredictable nature of the business.

“I do know [McGee] has this positive message thing going on behind it, a spiritual thing if I remember correctly going on with it,” Reynolds said. “That could catch, that could be the hook. I did tell him, ‘You’re not the first person I’ve seen to do that. I’ve heard this before.’ Timing is everything. Those people could’ve been too early; you could be right on time.”

Moetivs, McGee said, will soon launch a women’s line. What started with a college football player printing T-shirts with his Pell Grant money is now a budding clothing line, he said.

“We’re still growing, and we’re still pushing the envelope to be the Polo and Nike of believers clothing,” Scotty McGee said. “When you step into an elevator and somebody’s wearing a nice Polo shirt with the horse and the polo player, and the person standing next to them has a Moetivs polo on, it can hold its own weight.”