High school football is truly a beautiful thing. It’s the only level of the sport where you will find scrawny 16-17 year old kids squaring off against elite 5-star recruits who are essentially grown men by the time they reach their senior year of high school. With that in mind, there are few things in this world that I enjoy more than revisiting the high school highlight reels of some of the studs we have come to know and love on the College Football scene…So without further ado, here are the high school highlights of some of the most dominant players to ever come through the NCAA.

Jadeveon Clowney: South Pointe High (Rock Hill, SC)

We now know Jadeveon Clowney as one of the most athletically gifted defensive players to ever play the game of football. But back in his teenage years, he spent most of his time absolutely torturing pimple-ridden quarterbacks under the Friday night lights. Clowney’s imposing stature was accompanied by unnatural speed for a man of his size, making him an absolute nightmare for offenses at any level of football.

It honestly blows my mind that high school officials even allowed the freak of nature that is Jadeveon Clowney to play football his senior year. I mean look at those damn highlights. He looks like a straight up NCAA Road to Glory mode guy playing on Junior Varsity mode (RIP NCAA video games). The scariest part of that highlight video might be the plays where he is lined up as a running back…Imagine having to attempt to tackle that juggernaut as a scrawny 17 year old. No thank you.

Leonard Fournette: St. Augustine High (New Orleans, LA)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_k77eZhrkY

I mean the highlight video pretty much speaks for itself. That’s a video of a grown-ass man playing with children. Dude ran for over 5000 yards and scored 72 total touchdowns during his time at St. Augustine High. Fournette was destined for greatness, and he seems to be on pace to do exceptional things in the NFL in coming seasons.

Fun Fact: My roommate grew up in New Orleans and played against Fournette’s school every year. My roommate was 130 pounds soaking wet back then and normally found himself on the sidelines, but his claim to fame is that he was somehow able to tackle Fournette while playing special teams on a kickoff return. Happened nearly 5 years ago and it was more of a trip than a real tackle, but the kid still talks about it to this day. Honestly can’t blame him, though, not the worst line to drop if you are trying to get a free drink at a bar.

Tom Brady: Serra High (San Mateo, CA)

This article wouldn’t be complete without Tommy Touchdown. Everyone knows he was overlooked in the NFL draft, but if scouts had delved into his high school glory days they might have reconsidered. Don’t worry his actual high school highlights are below, but I just had to lead off with this electric introduction from Brady’s high school coach. Coach Tom McKenzie is a fucking showman through and through. Meanwhile, Tom Terrific is just dead eyeing the camera and exuding the confidence of a QB who has already won five Super Bowl Rings. But anyways, check out Brady’s high school bombs below.