BEST IN CLASS
Will Grier is a churchgoing southern boy who loves the simple life. But the Carolina QB—who once threw for 837 yards in a single game—has now earned a spot in the Parade All-America fraternity, a collection of some of the greatest players in NFL history.
as will grier, senior quarterback for davidson Day School in Davidson, N.C., jogged off the field after his team won a Division II state championship last November, the spectators took to their feet for one final communal roar.
But the cheering wasn’t only for the lopsided 69-28 win. Or the fact that the crowd had just watched the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Grier complete 32 of 42 attempts for 599 yards, throw seven touchdown passes, and, oh yeah, run for another.
It ’s because, as superlative as that performance was, it was all in a day’s work for Grier, whose play has not only been breathtaking but breathtakingly consistent: Over his high school career, Grier threw for 195 touchdowns, including 77 his senior year, and averaged 383 passing yards a game. He finished with 14,559 total passing yards while leading the Patriots to three straight state championships (he threw 10 touchdowns in one game in 2012). For this rare display of offensive firepower, the 18-year-old QB is
Parade’s 2014 All-America Player of the Year. Those who have watched him over the years aren’t surprised. “He made spectacular look routine,” says Cliff Mehrtens, sports editor of the local Lake Norman newspapers. “I’ve been covering high school football for 20 years, and this was the kind of special performance I will probably never see again—someone who can dominate, and win state championships, for three seasons in a row.”
All this from a churchgoing young man who says he prefers to lie low and “enjoy a simple life.”
“I’m just a southern boy who likes to go mudding in my Jeep, quail hunting, and skeet shooting,” says Grier, who also spends time playing catch with the younger students at his K–12 school. “I genuinely like kids. One day last fall, I read a great picture book by Tony Dungy called You
Can Do It! to 50 second-graders, and they just lit up. That positive influence is something I try to take advantage of. Some of them don’t really know who I am, and I love that. They just think of me as one of the big, nice kids.”
Part of that modesty may stem from the fact that Will—at least for now—is actually not the most famous son in the Grier household. That honor goes to his 16-year-old brother, high school sophomore Nash, who has more followers on the Twitter-powered app Vine than Justin Bieber, thanks to his song parodies (his take on Katy Perry’s “Roar” features a mewling kitten) and slap-
stick routines (some of them starring his big bro). “To a lot of people, I’m just Nash’s brother,” Grier says. “He’s been on Good Morning America. He’s a teen superstar— everybody loves him.”
Sibling rivalry? No way. “Nash is absolutely hilarious,” Grier says, “and he really is my best friend.” The feeling is mutual. “I brag on him way too much—I love watching him play,” says Nash. “We have a unique relationship. It’s always been goofy, and a lot of fun.”
Last month, Grier, a midyear graduate, had to leave behind Nash, his brother Hayes, and sister Skylynn to start classes at the University of Florida, alma mater of Parade All-America quarterbacks Chris Leak and Tim Tebow, both of whom took their teams to national titles.
Grier’s dad, Chad (who has also been his coach for the past three years at Davidson Day), predicts that his son will manage the big-time pressure just fine. “Will’s a very mature kid. I know that in Florida, he will outwork everybody. And he’s focused.”
As for the challenge of pleasing the Gator faithful, Will says: Bring it on. “I’d say I’m one of the most stubborn, persistent workers there is,” Grier says, “but [at Davidson
Day] it wasn’t me doing everything on my own. The quarterback gets all the praise and all the blame. You have to put that weight on your shoulders and just play.”
As a Parade All-America honoree, Grier belongs to an elite group that over the past 50 years has included 14 Heisman Trophy winners—including Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen, Herschel Walker, Charles Woodson, and the last two Heisman winners, Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston, who last month led Florida State to the BCS championship. In fact, Manziel and Winston are part of a long line of pre- scient Parade quarterback picks, including NFL Hall of Famers Joe Montana (class of ’73), Dan Marino, and John Elway (both from the class of ’78, a vintage year that also saw Parade pick future NFL stars Eric Dickerson and Jeff Hostetler). And who can forget 1994, when
Parade picked a New Orleans high school senior named Peyton Something-or-Other, who had his own recordsetting year in the NFL this season?
“The Parade list is like the Rose Bowl,” says Jay Greeson, sports editor at the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “It was there first. It ’s the granddaddy of them all.” Of course, football has seen some big changes since
Parade published its first list half a century ago. In 1963, there were 14 teams in the NFL
(now there are 32), Monday
Night Football was still seven years away, and the players were smaller. Parade’s 1963 All-America stor y, touting the size of the “big men” on the squad, noted that the first team’s five linemen averaged 214 pounds. This year, the first team’s five offensive linemen averaged 316 pounds.
The geographical distribution of talent has also changed. The 1963 team doesn’t have a single player, for example, from Florida. Today, Florida is one of the
Parade team’s “big three ” feeder states, along wit h Texas and California. And players today are much more specialized: In 1963, Parade’s first team didn’t list any quarterbacks; instead, it listed a back, Dick Jones, from Pendleton, Ore., who threw 56 TDs in high school—and also played tackle on defense.
What hasn’t changed are the Friday Night Lights– type
traditions and small-town camaraderie. “High school football might not be a religi on, but it’s pret t y darn close,” says Jim Henry, sports editor at the Joplin Globe (Mo.). “Some members of this year’s All-America team will make it to the NFL,” says Pa ra d e contributor Brian McLaughli n , who selects the team, “but many will go back to their communities after college to coach, teach, maybe even preach. Last fall was the last time they ’ ll recognize nearly every face in the stands when they play. Next year, they may play in front of 100,000, but this year was about making the community proud.”
“I’m so thankful I had that high school experience,” says Anthony Muñoz, 55, a 1975
Parade All-Americ a pic k from Ontario, Calif., who went on to play for 13 seasons as a Hall of Fame offensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals. “The pep rallies on Fridays, the marching band, ever ything. We had team dinners; our fullback’s mom would cook us steak dinners. It’s those memories I hold on to. I remember seeing the [All-America team] names in my hometown paper and how excited I was to get honored nationally.”
Grier feels the same way: “It’s crazy and such an honor to see some of the names from past teams. I’ ll look bac k in 25 years and say, ‘How amazing.’ It ’s a cool fraternity to be a part of.”