Plano's Superman

I saw Rex Burkhead a couple of times in high school and read about him frequently.  As great a high school player as he was, I didn't seriously consider seeing him on Saturdays.  But, here he is getting headlines as a sophomore on a ranked BCS team.  Really surprising, but very cool.  He was that ultimate high school Mr. Athlete at Plano.  Played varsity all 4 years, QB as a soph, and tailback the last 2 years.  When the chips were down he played defense where they basically lined him up at middle LB and let him chase the ball.  He was obviously the best player on the field many times, but can you take a 5'11 200lb white tailback seriously for the next level?

I looked back at his senior year; he was the DFW player of the year and had offers from Ole Miss, Tx Tech, Stanford, Arkansas, A&M, and of course Nebraska.  ESPN rated him as an "athlete" and 44th in the nation in that catch-all category.  I thought it was great that a guy like him would get those offers, but I just didn't see him projecting as an impact player for a big school.  What's great about this is what I talk about so often how some players just have an undefined knack for playing football.  You cannot measure it.  The numbers don't support it; 40 times, bench press, etc. don't make the case.  But put them (him) on the field and they makes plays and somehow seem faster than the stopwatch indicates.

Here are some quotes from a story today:  from Nebraska's O-coord; "Rex has the ability to pick up whatever. He could pick up a golf club and be good in 2 weeks. He is a player who has that unique feel for football, for the game."  From Bo Pelini: "He has an impact on the game in a lot of different ways. Everyone focuses on the wildcat, but he runs the ball hard, he's efficient, he can run inside or outside."  From Plano's head coach: "He exemplifies the type of player and person we want to represent our program."

S