Then they never saw John Henderson play. Or, Eric Westmorland. Or, Jeremaine Copeland. Among a few others.
Georges is a great RB, unbelievable, a game-changer; yes, maybe, the greatest high school RB this state has ever produced, and I hope to the football gods we land him. But, the greatest "football player" this state has ever had?? Does he play defense at Baylor? Does he play multiple positions? If he does, how much, and at how high of a level?
Eric Westmoreland was All-State as both a RB and S. He ran for over 6000 yards in HS and 85 TDs (over 2000 of them in his Sr season alone, with 40 TDs); while leading Marion Co to 3 state championships and a 56-1 overall record. Became an All-SEC LB at Tennessee, winning a National Championship and becoming team captain, going on to play multiple seasons in the NFL.
John Henderson was just as dominant on the DL as Georges is at RB...not only on the interior DL, but at DE as well; while being named an All-American, and one of the top 10 players in the country coming out of HS. He also played TE at Pearl Cohn (at 270-280 pounds), while also being All-State in basketball...would have been one of the top basketball recruits in the country, had he not decided to focus on football. His senior season alone, he had 150 tackles and 32 sacks...he also caught 45 passes and had 11 TDs at TE. Pearl Cohn won back-to-back state titles his Jr and Sr years; and he finished those two seasons with almost 300 tackles (this primarily at DT, mind you), almost 50 sacks, with 82 catches for over 1000 yards and 20 TDs. After graduation from UT, played 10 seasons in the NFL, where he was an All-Pro.
Jeremaine Copeland played QB, RB, WR, LB, and S in high school...yes, all of them at one time or another; and, also played some QB while he was at UT. He carried his Harriman HS team to the state championship game his Sr year while playing QB (he was, quite literally, all they had), losing to the #1 team in the state, David Lipscomb. Got his revenge, though...he won the state championship in basketball just a few months later, beating Oliver Simmons and Lipscomb on his way to it. To this day, he is still the greatest HS basketball player my two eyes have ever seen in person; and, I've seen Penny Hardaway, Ron Mercer, Tyler Smith, and many others. After graduating from UT, he went on to become one of the greatest WR the Canadian Football League has ever seen, being inducted into their HOF last year.
All 3 won a National Championship at UT, playing at ELITE levels.
Again, DGG is special; but, that greatest football player ever tag...I'm not that easily convinced. Again, maybe the greatest RB...I probably wouldn't dispute that; still has a Sr season to play. But, those dudes I just mentioned...they were great in a myriad of ways.
