Time to Get the Letters of Intent Out to This Beast of a RB. You'll Just Have to Be Patient Because He's 12-Years-Old

Jerry Thornton12/14/2022 6:00 PM

Source - For several decades, identity fraud has been a long-debated topic in youth sports, especially baseball and football, where passionate coaches and parents have often shown the willingness to do whatever it takes to gain a competitive advantage. The dominant performance of Jeremiah Johnson in a pivotal youth football game over the weekend has resulted in many critics calling into question the validity of the running back's age. After towering over his competitors on the gridiron at the Youth National Championships in Miami, Jeremiah earned "12U MVP honors." Jeremiah competes in a league for 12-year-olds. Physically, he looks like someone who could easily pass for a young man in his mid-twenties. He even has a mustache and several tattoos. But he's been winning trophies as a football player since he was a lot younger and much smaller, which indicates that his appearance might be due to a remarkable growth spurt.
His Instagram timeline and information made available suggest that Jeremiah is indeed twelve.

First of all, a pox upon any who would question this lad's claim to be 12 years old. I get that we live in a skeptical age. And with good reason. The world has given us ample reason to doubt everything we're told. But there's a difference between skepticism and cynicism. Why, if we can't believe in the integrity of Florida Youth Football, what is left? What institution can we trust if not that?

Besides, we have video from two years ago, when Jeremiah Johnson was reported to be 10:

So the math works out. Instead of doubting the young lad's veracity, we ought to just marvel at his abilities. The way the gentleman in this viral video does:

We should admire that he's gifted, the way we would a child prodigy in music, science, or academics. He's Doogie Howser, MD, just carrying a football instead of a stethoscope.

Some children are just touched by the gods that way. Think toddler Tiger Woods driving golf balls on TV in front of Bob Hope. By the time he reached his early teens, Wayne Gretzky was a household name throughout the provinces. And they managed to exceed their potential. Not every athlete peaks too young or sees their talents emerge later in life. Some are simply born to it. It's in their genetic makeup from the time they come out of locker womb, emerge from the birth tunnel, and step into the delivery room huddle.

Speaking personally, when I was coaching youth ball, I could dream of having a kid like this in the program. But even if my town produced such an athlete, fat lot of good it would've done us, since every grade had strict weight limits. A kid his size would have to play with like the 8th graders. And any parent who agreed to that arrangement ought to be investigated by social services. Kids naturally mature mentally and physically at different ages. Which makes it risky to move a players up a grade, regardless of his height and weight. I coached a kid or two who were practically the height of some of the coaches. Kids who made weight and all, but who still were like trying to tackle Tecmo Bowl Bo Jackson. I remember facing some of them in Little League, and with an aluminum bat in their hands, you worried whether your 3rd baseman would live to see his 13th birthday if you didn't move him back to the outfield grass. Granted, they didn't have mustaches and tattoo sleeves. But that just makes this young prospect all the more rare.

So good for Jeremiah's coaches that they have the good fortune to be in a league that abandons all pretense of protecting young athletes. That will just throw an adult-sized running back into a league of 75 pound preteens, with no restrictions. I'd say that watching him show up for the first day of practice must have felt like finding a winning Powerball ticket on the sidewalk. But doubtless they've been scouting him since 3rd grade. Designing a playbook around him over the years to maximize his unique skillset.

And to that end, there have to be college recruiters across this great land of ours, already busy getting their letters of intent ready. Doing the math, 12 means he would've been born in 2010. That would make him part of the Class of 2028. So all any coach has to do is start figuring out how much NIL money you can promise him, and avoid getting fired over the next six years. If you can hang in there until then, you can start planning your trips to the playoffs.

While we're at it, let's assume one pro personnel department is already putting Johnson's name on their board. For the 2031 Draft.