Terrelle Pryor and the greatest high school state championship performance of all-time

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I'm not breaking new ground here by saying that most –if not all– college football stars were probably the best player on their high school fields. Or that they were likely dominant in high school playing a position we never saw them at in college. A rare few continue to do it (Travis Hunter), but 99% of guys refine their focus on one position by the time they get to campus. It's too much of a workload to handle, and quite honestly, you just can't out-athlete other teams in college to the degree you can in high school. That's the main reason we don't see things like Jadeveon Clowney, running back - despite how much fun it'd be:

Players excelling at multiple positions in high school has always made for great legend-making, though, and that's what we're doing today with the story of Terrelle Pryor and the 2007 PIAA (Pennsylvania) Class AA State Championship Game.

If you're of a certain age, you remember how wild Pryor's recruitment was before he signed with Ohio State, and with good reason. He was the second-ranked football recruit nationally in 2008, a top-100 prospect in basketball, and was coming off one of the greatest high school football careers of all-time. Pryor was essentially unstoppable, becoming the first quarterback in Pennsylvania history to both throw and run for 4,000 career yards, leading Jeannette High to a 16-0 record as a senior in 2007. He was the driving force behind the Jayhawks scoring a then-state record 860 points (53.7 per game), mercy-ruling 15 of their 16 opponents:

For those interested: Here's Pennsylvania's Mercy Rule definition.

Jeanette capped their spectacular season with a 49-21 beatdown of Dunmore High for their first-ever state title, but it wasn't just thanks to Pryor. Running back –and future Ohio State teammate– Jordan Hall scored on the first play from scrimmage, setting the tone for the rest of the day:

After that? It was the Pryor show. Here's a comical sampling of just how much he did:

• Dodged tacklers and completed a two-point conversion:

• Punted:

• Boomed a kickoff for a touchback:

• Destroyed a dude as a lead blocker on a punt return touchdown (Jordan Hall scored):

• Made a few tackles:

• Mossed two poor Dunmore defensive backs on a Hail Mary TD at the end of the first half:

• Weaved through defenders on ridiculous touchdown runs:

Pryor ran for 209 yards and three touchdowns, threw for 83 and a score, caught one pass for 28 yards and a TD, recorded seven tackles, kicked off five times with one touchback, and punted once for 24 yards. It's among the damndest things I've ever seen on a football field. Watch for yourself in the full video:

Pryor strictly played quarterback –and gave up basketball– at Ohio State, but it's not like his vast skillset didn't translate to the rest of his football career. He started nearly three full years for the Buckeyes, throwing for 6,177 yards and 57 touchdowns, while running for 2,164 yards and 17 scores. He also had two receiving TD, including this sick jump ball against Texas as a freshman in the 2009 Fiesta Bowl:

It's a shame that the general public treated college athletes who got any benefits before NIL like violent felons, because the NCAA's archaic structure robbed Pryor of what could've been an all-time season as a senior in 2011. Jim Tressel opened up the offense as 2010 came to a close, and it's not out of the question that Pryor would've put up the most prolific season (to that point) in Ohio State history. Alas, Pryor was suspended five games, and ultimately decided to not return once Tressel resigned.

Despite sitting out a year and having the unfortunate luck of being picked by the Raiders in the NFL Supplemental Draft, Pryor still had a seven-year NFL career. He only started 10 games as a QB –all for the Raiders– but switched to receiver for the Browns and had a thousand-yard season in 2016. If we're being honest, him making that move at 27 years old, then putting up 1,077 yards and seven TD is quietly near the top of the list of wildest things in NFL history.

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I know a lot of people still don't like Pryor, and I'm not here to either vouch for him or bury him. He was as enigmatic and divisive off the field as he was on it, and it made for a weird career in the spotlight right as social media started blowing up. Teenage athletes are a thousand times more used to that now than they were then, though, and it's thanks to guys like Pryor, LeBron, Bryce Harper, Sydney Crosby, etc. for breaking those doors down - whether they wanted to or not. He didn't have the pro success those players did, but the unique abilities he showed in that 2007 State Championship Game defined the rest of his career, and made him a one-of-a-kind football player.