Quote:
Originally Posted by gchappel
In college every player is as good, or better, as that high school star. Every one. Half of the players were better than anything they had ever seen. High school to college is a whole different world. Many could not play the new college game.
The step from college to pro ball is even bigger. It is a different game, with different players.
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All true. Less than 3% of all HS football player get a ride in the NCAA. Less than 2% of D1 football players even get drafted in the NFL. QB's, arguably the hardest position in all of sports, face a gauntlet of physical and mental demands few have. The "windows" become even more minuscule. Lastly, there are only two or three slots per team.
I played QB and Safety in HS and was reasonably good...SoCal has a lot of talented players and I was in the 75th percentile. That will get you exactly zero interest from a big school. Zippy.
This was a long time ago (I don't think the La Brea Tar Pits had officially opened - still waiting for the last Dino to die) before specialization and the demands on the mental aspects of QB (even in HS) became as important as physical presence.
I had zero illusions of playing football in college. I could have punted at a D1 school but I didn't see the point. Stupid.
My best friend was the All CIF AAAA player of the year his junior and senior year as a Fullback and Defensive End. He was just better than everybody else.
He called me after his first few practices at USC..."Different world, Paul: The upper class men are all men...very talented and fast men."
He concussed out of USC and never played a varsity game.
I played a lot of pick-up basketball with NBA and college players in college and early in my Navy career. I was, again, good enough and smart enough to know my role and make sure I didn't get over the tips of my basketball skis. Assists, lot of assists.
Whatever talent you think you may have, to see the athletic ability of NBA and college players in real time, on the same court, is humbling in the extreme.