McDonald was chosen by the 49ers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the 55th overall selection. He spent four seasons in San Francisco before starting again in Pittsburgh, after being traded just before the start of the 2017 season.
For his career, McDonald played 101 games in his eight seasons, starting with 77, and ended with 181 receptions for 2,036 yards and 15 touchdown receptions. During his four years with the Steelers, he played 53 games, starting with 47, and managed 117 passes for 1,170 yards and eight touchdowns.
He had his best season in 2018 when he took 50 passes for 610 yards, an average of 12.2 yards, and had four touchdown receptions.
“I appreciate Vance’s contributions during the last four years of his career in Pittsburgh,” said coach Mike Tomlin. “He was a class actor on and off the field, leading many of our efforts in the community, while he was a voice for our social justice efforts and community work during the pandemic. Retirement and his continued work to be a pillar in the community. “
McDonald is also nominated for the Steelers for the 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award. Each NFL team nominates a nominee for the Man of the Year, and they are eligible to be the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, presented by Nationwide. . The award recognizes community service outside a player’s field, as well as his excellence in the game. And McDonald definitely scores points in those areas.
When COVID-19 hit the country and the Pittsburgh region, people were impacted in ways that many never imagined. Although many thought that the only impact of the pandemic would be the threat of contracting the virus, they soon found that the impact was far more far-reaching. Through their work with Convoy of Hope, McDonald and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger started the Trucks of Hope campaign, with a mission to bring individual trucks full of non-perishable food, PPE and cleaning supplies to 1,000 families in Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland County, in the Western Pa region. Among those with whom they worked was United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which distributed the items to agencies they work with throughout the region.