Just when you think you’ve got the work-life balance figured out, you bump into Brandon Huffman on a Wednesday morning.
College football recruiting is important. Big stuff. Tens of millions of dollars are at stake. I asked Huffman, who covers the college recruiting beat for a living for Rivals, what the going rate is for a blue-chip high school quarterback, or a left tackle, or an edge rusher.
He told me.
I’ve already forgotten.
Because right after that, we started talking about his little girl, Avery. She was in kindergarten when she was diagnosed with a rare and inoperable brain tumor. She died in the first grade. And while I’d have to go back and listen again to what Huffman said about the going rate for a defensive tackle, I’ll never forget that Avery’s former classmates started their first day of senior year of high school on Wednesday.
Also, her best friend from first grade told Avery’s parents she wore a “Frozen” backpack from Disney to class in honor of their daughter.
Hits like a bag of bricks, doesn’t it?
I’m not here to diminish the impact of high-level college football recruiting. It’s big business. Important stuff. Huffman covers it well from his home in the suburbs in Arizona. We did a 1-on-1 interview all about it on Wednesday.
A few years ago, Huffman told me that the subject of NIL payments came up very early — maybe within the first three or four questions — when high-level recruits talked with college coaches.
What’s the very first question now?
