 McTear appeared on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" in 1978, and qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, but the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics prevented his participation.From there he fell into drug use and was homeless for three years during the 1980s.He attempted a comeback in the early 1990s and won the 60 meters at the Swedish Indoor Championships in 1990 with a time of 6.68s.