Trish Hoffman, Andrew Luck and myself at 2011 Maxwell Football Club Awards Dinner.
Photography by Photos by Wendy
Andrew Luck, who is one of the nicest players I’ve ever met during my time as a journalist, leads this week’s Now & Then feature with his performance Sunday in the Indianapolis Colts 41-17 win over the Tennessee Titans.
Luck, who played his high school football at Stratford High in Houston, Texas, threw for an NFL best 393 yards in the victory that evened the Colts record at 2-2.
During his high school career, Luck, who’s father Oliver also played quarterback in the NFL, threw for 7,139 yards and 53 touchdowns. Luck, who was his school’s co-valedictorian, also rushed for 2,085 yards and played in the 2008 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith was the league’s top pass catcher Sunday with 139 yards on seven receptions in his team’s 38-10 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Smith attended University High School in Los Angeles where he was also a member of the school’s track and field team. Smith played running back and defensive back and was an All-CIF and All-Metro League performer on both sides of the ball.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any video of Smith during his high school days, but I did find this story from a few days ago that talks about him as a fiery nine or ten-year old who hated to lose.
For the second time this year, Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray was the league’s top rusher. Murray, who we profiled during his time at Bishop Gorman (Nevada) after his Week 2 performance, rushed for 149 yards in the Cowboys 38-17 win over the New Orleans Saints.
http://nationalunderclassmen.ning.com/video/jerick-mckinnon-clip-3-wrqb
Because we want to highlight as many Now & Then performances as we can throughout the season, we’ll go to #2 on the list – Jerick McKinnon of the Minnesota Vikings. McKinnon rushed for 135 yards in the Vikings 41-28 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
McKinnon attended Sprayberry High School in Marrieta, Georgia. McKinnon, played wide receiver and quarterback in high school. During his senior season he passed for 1,500 yards and rushed for 1,300. He was named All-State by the Georgia Sports Writers Association as an athlete.
McKinnon also was part of Sprayberry’s track and field team.
