The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Receiver’s catch lands him on ESPN
The name Vlasi Pappas may not have been known much outside of Northeast Ohio when the day started on Sept. 1.
By the next morning, it was known around the country. Why? Because of one amazing play and a little show called “SportsCenter.”
The Avon senior created a stir on Twitter during the Eagles’ 31-7 victory over Olmsted Falls in Week 2 when he snagged a leaping, onehanded catch amid tight coverage, tumbling backwards to the ground while maintaining control of the ball for a touchdown.
“Honestly, I just thought I made a solid catch,” Pappas said. “I practice things like that almost every day, so I’ve been waiting for that kind of a moment. It was a great pass from (quarterback) Ryan (Maloy), and I’m just glad I could make the catch.”
The catch was spectacular enough that it caught the eye of ESPN.
Initially, “SportsCenter” tweeted video of the catch, saying “Catch of the year candidate #SCtop10” with siren emojis.
The video, which was
captured by Kyle Goodwin of OhioSportsNet, was then featured on “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” around 1 a.m., with Van Pelt commenting on the catch.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “This is your man Vlasi Pappas . ... And that is a spectacular catch.”
Pappas may have missed his appearance on “SportsCenter” if it weren’t
for his phone going off with notifications.
“I saw it was on Twitter,” Pappas said. “People were letting me know, and then I got a text that told me to turn on ‘SportsCenter’ right away. Next thing I know, I was watching myself on TV. It was pretty cool.”
The night just continued to get better for Pappas from there.
An hour later, “SportsCenter” counted down its Top 10 plays of the day, with Pappas making the list.
He didn’t simply make the list, though. He topped it.
Beating out other stellar plays such as Rory McIlroy’s 49-foot birdie putt, Coasta Rican goalie Keylor Navas’ instinct save against the United States, Kevin Tway’s hole-in-one and the Blue Jays’ Steve Pearce diving into the crowd for a catch, Pappas and the Eagles were the No. 1 play of the night.
As with Van Pelt, Pappas’ catch drew awed comments from hosts Stan Verrett and Linda Cohn.
“That was superb,” Cohn said. “He’s only in high school. They’re so big at that age.”
Perhaps Verrett summed up the play best in the way that many in the stands probably did as well. “Wow,” Verrett said. Pappas, who wants to play college football and is hoping to go Division I, said that he hopes getting on ESPN will help get him noticed.
“It can’t hurt,” Pappas said. “I’ve only gotten an offer from Lake Erie College so far, so I’m hoping to play well this year and get some more, maybe some D-I offers. Hopefully this helps with that.”