$eventeen going on forty

It’s game week and plenty of us are planning Saturday around the midday FSU-GT matchup in Dublin.

FOOTBALL. IS. BACK.

The day I don’t get over-the-top pumped to say those three words is ideally the day I’m no longer breathing.

I think as media, fans, coaches, it’s been easy the past couple of years to develop a jaded lens. Jaded by the money, jaded by the empty promises, jaded by the transfer portal, jaded by the seismic conference shifts. But I think for those of us that love following recruiting, love college football and want to keep loving it, we have to remind ourselves that amid the often off-putting landscape, so much of what delights us is still present.

Five-star offensive tackle David Sanders, arguably the most household name in recruiting for the 2025 class, announced his commitment to Tennessee over Ohio State, Georgia, and Nebraska last weekend at Providence Day High School in Charlotte, N.C. in front of a large crowd of family and friends.

Sanders’ agent, who drove up from Atlanta, pleasantly introduced himself to me on-site at the announcement and the conversation was normal, but also served as a real-time realization that agents in college football haven’t quite become mainstream to my brain.

At the beginning of his announcement speech, Sanders said, “Visits every weekend… It's been a blessing for our family. I’m excited to get it over with.” Despite the celebratory sentiment of the day, there was an undercurrent of relief.

A significant focus these days is on the going rate for a premium prospect at X position, what school has the biggest and best NIL resources, or who’s behind the scenes driving the conversations of money. It’s easy to forget they’re still 15-, 16-, 17-year-old kids.

I think it’s become so pedestrian to label big-time prospects as being bought by this school, or leveraging with that school, that we forget the human part. The teenager part.

Sanders’ tears started flowing when he began thoughtfully describing what the closest individuals in his life meant to him and the tears didn’t stop because the emotion and mental load of the past couple of years finally surfaced for us to see, reminding the world that despite his 6-foot-6, nearly 300-pound frame, he’s a high schooler that has carried a burden - because that’s what it’s been - for years.

As his speech progressed, it was as if we were witnessing a physical release of this weight, so distinctly identifiable and tangible. You shared in his relief as he poured out his emotion.

His teammates, sitting in the bleachers a few rows behind me, were taking best-guesses on his destination minutes leading up to his announcement. On their phones, laughing with each other, normal stuff. When Sanders began talking about what teammates Leo Delaney and Miles Funderburk meant to him, he choked up and fought through an unsteady voice to finish his sentences. And his teammates almost didn’t know how to react to Sanders’ display of sentimentality. Because do any of us really know what it’s like to be in his shoes? We can imagine it, sure, but we’ve not been living it day in and day out for years.

The tally of visits (seven officials!), the countless conversations with persuasive and esteemed college coaches, the media requests, the social media consumption and speculation, the family conversations, the agent conversations, the societal emphasis on this-is-the-biggest-decision-of-your-life-so-don’t-screw-it-up.

How cool that a 17-year-old five-star left tackle completely lets his guard down and shows the world what truly matters to him? Sanders got specific when discussing each family member – grandparents, three younger sisters, and parents –  while unsuccessfully holding back tears the whole time. The nature of his relationships was inspiring and something everyone should want in their family unit. A 17-year-old was not acting too cool for any of it. That was the coolest part of all.

And finally what took the striking aspect of it to another level was that Sanders has not been someone throughout the recruiting process that has shown the public he’s felt the weight of pressure. His staple smile, always yes ma’am, confidence in interviews, a jovial manner but also business-like in his approach, his courteous nature— from an outsiders’ point of view, he’s been steady and unflappable. But to see the onslaught of fervor and tears on Saturday, it reminded me of why I love covering recruiting. Because it’s all human interest after all.

Toward the end of our pre-announcement interview, Sanders mentioned that his time was coming to an end. He meant his time as an uncommitted prospect, of course. But he’s got his whole life in front of him. His senior season at PD, his college career as a Vol, and anything and everything beyond that. In more ways it’s a beginning.

Here’s to hoping that as exciting and anticipatory as the announcement day was for Sanders, it’s not the most memorable part of his playing career and what comes after.

And telling myself to pull up the YouTube link to his announcement anytime I feel like the bottom-line of the recruiting business starts to diminish the joy of what I get to do for a living.

Football season is upon us. Enjoy it.

-AA