ORONO _ Most of us are considered lucky if we have a gift _ the ability to hit a 90 mph fastball or duplicate the sound of Eric Clapton with a guitar.

George McDonald of Salem, Mass., has been given two gifts.

McDonald, who will be a senior defensive end for the University of Maine football team this fall, is also a talented artist. He is one of only two varsity athletes at UMaine studying art.

According to McDonald, art and football present two distinct challenges and lifestyles.

“Basically I lead two lives during the fall,” said McDonald. “I never see any of my [art] classmates outside of school and I never see any of my football teammates during classes.”

While the image of a 6-foot-5, 250-pound football player painting a picture may seem hard to imagine, it is not entirely uncommon.

“That’s a misconception that I have heard so many times,” said Deborah deMoulpied, professor of arts and sculpture and McDonald’s advisor at UMaine. “I’ve had two or three guys in the past few years that were very athletic and artistic.”

McDonald didn’t take a serious interest in art until he got to high school and began to develop his talents. People at Salem High School started telling him he could have a future in art or football.

Following his junior and senior years of high school when his team, coached by former John Bapst and Brewer coach Ken Perrone, won its conference championship, he designed T-shirts for the school.

“The design for that shirt was a football player breaking through a brick wall,” he recalled.

If not for football, McDonald might have studied architecture.

“I started out doing a lot of drafting and designing,” McDonald said. “And I originally wanted to be an architect.”

His career plans changed when he was offered full football scholarships by three Division I-AA schools _ Maine, Northeastern, and Rhode Island. But none offered architecture courses. He chose Maine to be close to his father George, who resides in Holden.

According to deMoulpied, McDonald’s skills could take him a long way.

“George is exceptional in the sense that I think of him as a poet,” she offered. “He’s a real perfectionist with detail. He’s very quiet with his work and has a sensitivity that is all his own.”

McDonald said he does not aspire toward being a Michelangelo and that his interests are focused on computer graphic design. He sees that as the “future of art.”

On the field, McDonald should be a terror to opposing running backs this fall. He is the most experienced defensive lineman on the team and has slimmed down from 265 pounds last season to 250. UMaine head coach Jack Cosgrove said the difference has been noticeable and he expects big things from the artist.

“George is the guy we want on the field as much as possible,” said Cosgrove. “He’s the complete package. He’s strong, tough, smart, and he can run.”

He missed four games in the middle of last season after injuring a knee, but still finished with 22 tackles and an interception in seven games.

While McDonald and his Black Bear teammates prepare for their Sept. 2 opener, art has taken a back seat to football. In fact, the only things he’s painting now are mental pictures of himself and his teammates winning the Yankee Conference.

“For us seniors this is our last chance to have a winning season, so that’s all I’ve been thinking about.”