Anybody grow up with a future pro?

[spazz70]

Never played against but have met one on several occasions... David Bruton from Miamisburg, where I live and played...Also went to school with Josh Myers' father....If you do not know who he is, look him up....he is going to OSU next year...Committed before his sophomore year...He is like the number 1 player in Ohio and number 5 nationally....OL freak....Should be a pro if healthy.

[StoneTheCrow]

Played against AJ Hawk. And possibly Nugent but he may have been only on the soccer team. I don't recall him. My brother played against Nick Mangold.

[bengalguy71]

I never did, but my uncle played against a couple of future baseball pros in high school.

Back in the 60s he played high school baseball in the city of Dayton league. My uncle went to Colonel White, a guy named Mike Schmidt went to Meadowdale (played 3B for the Phillies), and a guy named Steve Yeager went to Fairview (caught for the Los Angeles Dodgers).

[bonesaw]

Lots of them at FSU in the late 90s early 2000s. I'd say their talent makes them dangerous on every play. Like if you ever are not perfect an NFL calibur guy will hurt/score on/bury you on that play every time.

Sickest of all the talent was Pdub. Still think healthy and under different circumstances he would've thrived here or anywhere in the NFL. DBs that also ended up playing in the NFL would try and talk smack to him before scrimmages. He was quiet but would finally respond and just tell them how many TDs he would score on them, then he did it. I remember one time he against a particularly loud CB he caught a post for a TD and as he crossed the line he flipped the ball backwards into his facemask, the next time down he caught a fade for a TD and bounced it off his helmet when they landed. He wasn't the same guy after the injury. Under different circumstances and healthy he would've been a superstar in the league.

Laverneous Coles ran a 4.19 at pro day. He had been dismissed from the team but they let him work out at proday and his body looked like a floating torso across the track. Like a cartoon when the legs go so fast they're a blur.

The trench guys are beasts. Lots of OLine and Dline guys had NFL careers. They will bury you every play if you are a split second late or unaware or your feet aren't just right.

[Shake n Blake]

My Dad employed Shaun Alexander's fullback from Boone County. I met the guy several times and talked to him about Shaun. That's about as close as I've come.

[McC]

(01-04-2017, 06:23 PM)The Burfict Answer Wrote: Went to highschool in Virginia , torrey smith was my quarterback. We were 6-1 looking easily to make playoffs and then he punched some kid for bullying his sister . Broke his throwing hand we lost the next 3 games .

also my best friend at the time was the wr dexter mcdougle . He is now on the jets, he's been struggling with injuries though . Both went to Maryland for college

He must have just been a blur to other high school kids.

[McC]

(01-04-2017, 06:36 PM)Goalpost Wrote: I only know of one actual pro player, but that wasn't directly thru me.  In college a fraternity brother was a PE major, and one of his courses, was direct coaching with a youth football team.  Just so happens that semester he helped coach Chris Carter when he was 15-16 years old or so.  He raved about him, and I guess rightly so.

HOFer.  He was a great basketball player too.

[McC]

(01-04-2017, 06:40 PM)wolfkaosaun Wrote: I've played against two. One was just a pick up game, the other was high school.

I played Terrell Pryor in high school when he played for Jeanette. I played for East Allegheny. We were both undefeated....and we lost 77-10. Hated him from that point on.

Played against Rob Gronkowski while he went to school in Woodland Hills. He's actually a really nice guy believe it or not. Typical meathead, but not a douche about it.

I can't imagine a high school kid trying to tackle Pryor.  Or even catch him for that matter.  Can't imagine three high school kids tackling Gronk.

[McC]

(01-04-2017, 07:07 PM)Wyche Wrote: Probably no one anyone here recognizes....but I played Babe Ruth ball with Darren Burton (KC Royals )....and Josh Anderson (Houston Astros/Atlanta Braves ). Both were great players....but one kid from our age group was actually better and never made it.  He sells insurance and ironically took over coaching the high school team back home.

Also....my uncle played summer ball with Doug Flynn many moons ago.

Used to work with a guy who played on a team with Ken Griffey Jr. Was either Moeller or AAU.  He was the best player on the team at every single position.

[samhain]

When I was 12-15 I went to a summer camp in Pinecrest, CA for a week every July. My godfather graduated from UC Berkeley and the camp was a retreat for alumni and their families. I hung out with the same group of kids every year and kept up with them after I went home to Kentucky.

Our ring leaders were two skinny kids from Orinda, CA named Drew and Mike Bennett. Drew ended up playing behind Cade McNown at UCLA and eventually played receiver for the Titans. He had an insane stretch at the end of 2004 where he and Billy Volek scored some crazy number of TDs in the last few games of the season.

He was just a average-sized 150=pound kid when I knew him. I knew he played several sports, but had no idea how good he was TBH. His family was extremely friendly and about a dozen of us kids practically lived in their cabin the entire week.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

Frank Lickliter was on the golf team at Wright State University when I was an undergraduate; I think he was a year ahead of me academically but light years ahead of me on the golf course. I wasn't on the team -- physics majors don't have time for sports and due to health issues I couldn't have passed an NCAA sports physical at the time anyway -- but Frank and I had the same swing coach. We did play practice rounds together but even on my best day and on his worst day, I couldn't beat him or even scare him. Back then I could shoot in the 70s but that's not Tour quality; Frank could go really low! If you can imagine shooting 77 and getting beat by at least ten shots, well, that's what it's like being on the course with a future pro.

What I remember most about Frank Lickliter was how physically strong he was which was a gift I've never had. In fact, we both played Mizuno irons and like most good players I needed a firm shaft to keep the ball going straight but Frank's irons had the stiffest shafts available. He let me hit a shot with one of his irons and it was like swinging with all my might at one of those cement tee markers. He was a long hitter; I was way above average with respect to distance back then but Frank had an extra fifty yards off the tee any time he needed it.

Frank won on the PGA Tour which didn't surprise me at all.

[*Wyche'sWarrior*]

(01-04-2017, 11:54 PM)McC Wrote: Used to work with a guy who played on a team with Ken Griffey Jr. Was either Moeller or AAU.  He was the best player on the team at every single position.

The Griff......that must have been fun to even watch.  I forgot to mention that my brother played with a guy (and eventually one of my high school assistants) that was the KY AP "Athelete of the Year".  He went on to a good career at UK, then signed on with the Colts.  He never played any, but lasted a year or two, then played a year at MLB/ST with the Orlando Thunder of the World League.

[BigPapaKain]

An old manager of mine was a hockey player in high school and claims to have played Ben Roethlisberger back when he played for Fremont. Said he was a quiet kid and nothing special about him per sé other than he was huge for his age.

Said Big Ben turned into a huge dick bag in college though, which was less surprising than anything else he said about him.

The guy also claims to have met and served Edge and The Undertaker down at a Bob Evan's in Bowling Green. Says they're both big guys but incredibly nice.

[lostpoet2]

I played basketball against Jared Jeffries throughout middle school and high school. He was an unreal talent and could do everything on the court.

In college I played intramural basketball against Jared Lorenzen. He typically ran point guard, which was funny, but he could play.

My cousin grew up playing youth soccer with Ben Roethlisberger. He said that Ben was always big compared to the other kids, even when they were 5 years old.

[Hoofhearted]

(01-04-2017, 04:11 PM)McC Wrote: Not sure where to put this so I'll stick it here and let the chips fall where they will.

Has anybody ever played alongside someone who went on to become a pro athlete?  My question is---how much better than everyone else is a future pro?

The best I ever played with seemed pretty good but none of them were anywhere near pro caliber.  I'm just trying to imagine what these kind of guys look like in HS.

I'm thinking mainly football but any sport would be relevant.

I played with Micheal Redd (basketball player), but  on JV lol.

Seen Joey Galloway play. when I was younger.

And played vs Maurice Hall when he was RB at Brookhaven. 

[treee]

My Highschool team played against starting Panthers guard Andrew Norwell in the Ohio Highschool Division II playoffs in 2008. At the time he was the starting tackle. I didn't play because I wasn't on the varsity team as a sophomore. He's a monster though.

[*jason*]

(01-05-2017, 01:25 PM)Hoofhearted Wrote: I played with Micheal Redd (basketball player), but  on JV lol.

Seen Joey Galloway play. when I was younger.

And played vs Maurice Hall when he was RB at Brookhaven. 

Michael Redd was sitting next to me at a Worthington summer league game the night he was drafted... Brian Brown was playing in it.

[CincyWestside]

I went to Elder and was a year behind Kyle Rudolph. They made me guard him in a summer basketball scrimmage....held him to 10 points.

I also was a freshman the year that Jake McQuaide was a senior - currently a long snapper for LA Rams

I have a friend who's stepdad was a relief pitcher for the Reds and my aunt married a former minor leaguer with the Mariners, but not going to name names in those cases.

[bengalguy71]

(01-05-2017, 11:57 AM)Wyche Wrote: The Griff......that must have been fun to even watch.  I forgot to mention that my brother played with a guy (and eventually one of my high school assistants) that was the KY AP "Athelete of the Year".  He went on to a good career at UK, then signed on with the Colts.  He never played any, but lasted a year or two, then played a year at MLB/ST with the Orlando Thunder of the World League.

I can remember going to Riverfront and seeing Griffey Jr and the Perez youngin, preschoolers, running around the field during warmups before games.

[bengalguy71]

We've had some local high school kids that went on to the pros since I came to Florida in 1981.

The biggest name being Deion Sanders, of course, he went to the same high school my son did.

Edgerrin James, Jevon Kearse, and the most recent being Sammy Watkins.

Also, two brothers Martin and Guillermo Gramatica were kickers in the NFL for awhile.