Weatherford's Downs does all the little things
WEATHERFORD — Ethan Downs remembers what it was like not to be one of the stars.
Downs, now an unquestioned star football player at Weatherford High, was a freshman trying to make his way on the varsity squad when
Ian Hill set an example.
Hill was a 6- foot- 4 wide receiver.
“Could catch anything from anywhere,” Downs said.
But it was the way Hill related to everyone else around him that really stood out to Downs.
“He was just one of those guys that are super popular and super nice and al ways willing to share time with anyone that came up to them and show them that he cared,” Downs said. “Seeing guys like that in the higher classes here, you want to imitate it and be an example like it.
“Guys like that inspired me to reflect that.”
Downs' star as a football
player certainly does. He's No. 2 on The Oklahoman's Super 30 and committed to OU as a defensive end.
Weather ford coach Reagan Roof acknowledges the cliche.
“Every time I read an article on a kid, you always see a coach saying how great that kid is as a person,” Roof said. “But unless you really know him, nobody will have a clue how good of a kid he really is.”
With Downs, Roof said, he sees it every day.
“He's the kid who stays late and picks up the locker room. He's the one that gives the kids rides home that don't have one,” Roof said. “He could be the arrogant one that's walking up and down the halls. He could be the big dog, but he's still the guy that goes and does the little things for everybody else.”
That's at least in part because Downs remembers those who did for him.
Downs was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, and spent some time in Amarillo before moving to Weatherford in the third grade.
Even before moving to Oklahoma, Downs wanted to be Sooner.
His parents, who grew up in Oklahoma and went to Southwestern Oklahoma State, instilled a love of OU football into him.
He remembers sitting in the living room, watching a Sooners game with his parents when he was seven or eight years old.
“Mama, I want to be on TV,” Downs said. “I want to play football on that field for you guys.”
Now he' ll get that chance.
But when Downs got that opportunity, he didn't process it immediately.
Downs had gone to camps at OU for several years and expected the one last summer to go much like those.
“I thought I'd go up in (Lincoln Riley's office), shake his hand and he'd say, `Great job, we're going to keep watching you,'”
Downs said.
Downs was worn out making his way to Riley's office.
Riley was to the point. “There's no question about it, we want to offer you,” Riley said.
Downs didn't show any emotion, just thanking Riley.
“I was still sweating and my eyes were sunk in and I'm red-faced,” Downs said. “I needed to go take a nap or eat or something. I was tired.”
When they walked out of the office, his parents questioned his reaction.
But though he didn't commit for several months, over the next two weeks, Downs said it became clear how important that offer was and that he wanted to go to OU.
“I got real excited after the offer,” Downs said. “It
About the series
The Oklahoman's Super 30 feature series will spotlight each high school football player on the Super 30 recruit rankings for the 2020 class. The series continued Saturday with No. 2, Weatherford's Ethan Downs. See No. 1 on the list in Sunday's editions of The Oklahoman. Here are the last five players we've featured:
No. 6: Javion Hunt, RB, Carl Albert
No. 5: Ty Williams, DB, Muskogee
No. 4: Collin Oliver, LB, Edmond Santa Fe
No. 3: AJ Green, RB, Tulsa Union
No. 2: Ethan Downs, DE, Weatherford
didn't take very long for me to realize that's the place I want to go. That's the place I feel like is my home since I've been there so often. I feel comfortable up there. All the coaches and where the football is at right now makes it so much easier to go there.”
But first, Downs is trying to soak in every bit of his senior season.
“I'm trying to make the most of it,” Downs said, stating he hopes to run track for the Eagles in the spring. “Nothing's guaranteed, so I'm going to try to make the most of the time I have here before I go and live it up there.”