High school marks the end of serious athletic competition for most.
A few go on to twiddle their thumbs at Division-II schools and eventually settle down into beer-league softball with their overweight coworkers and slacks.
A select few will have a slightly different trajectory.
Rather than sucking down discounted bowling alley pitchers of beer with their accounting department colleagues, professional athletes have been able to make a career out of their (rare) athletic prowess.
It is easy for sports reporters and fans (myself included) to forget that every player in the NFL could ragdoll our limp bodies with ease. And yes, that includes (most) punters and kickers.
What would it be like if the Average Joe were to enter into the professional sports arena?
Better yet, what would it be like if a pro athlete entered the Average Joe’s arena?
For most of us, we have already experienced this one way or another while playing high school sports.
I was Inspired by a gentleman on Twitter who recalled a time when he had to block not one, but both Bosa brothers thanks to his high school coach.
This inspired me to ask the Twitter world if they had any memories of getting their souls taken by a future pro athlete while in high school.
Here are some of the best responses.
My new twitter pal @ButtMcDude recalls the time he had to face Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Brandon Workman while he threw a perfect game and hit a two-run homerun.
There’s absolutely no shame in Butt trying to get back to the dugout as fast as possible after facing heat in the upper-nineties, especially considering a very good pitcher at the HS level will typically throw around 85 mph.
Brandon made sure to put a little extra heat on the next pitches to see how dedicated you were to bunting. Child services would have been called if your coach asked you to lean in on the first pitch.
Todd Prinz recalls a high school basketball game where his team faced the Lopez brothers, and Quincy Pondexter all at once. All together that adds up to 20’ 7” of mutant freaks.
It doesn’t get much more demoralizing than the radio broadcaster using some material he practiced on the car ride over for his announcing reel.
Several other people contributed to the thread including some unverified stories about Jameis Winston taking his anger out on an unlucky guy who happened to pick him off in a high school jamboree. Check it out here:
To finish, I’ll leave you with quite possibly the white whale of all high school athletes, Derrick Henry.
Here’s a look at Henry’s now-famed high school stat lines from his senior season at Yulee High School in Florida:
Those stats speak for themselves. If anyone has any firsthand experience in the game against Andrew Jackson where Henry had 45 carries for 510 yards and six touchdwons, please contact me (@HalbWill on Twitter), and please seek therapy.
