A Look Back On National Signing Day

HOUSTON, TX — High School athletes from all over the U.S. realized their dreams of going to college and playing on a much bigger stage when they participated last week in National Signing Day, and signed their letters of intent.

Many who'd dreamed of going off to the big universities, such as USC, Alabama, and the University of Texas, maybe saw those dreams realized, while others who just dreamed of going somewhere did too.

It's was day when stars in football, softball, track, basketball and soccer all begin to see their next step from adolescent to adult, become a reality.

It is a day that changes lives for a lot of high school kids, and their families.

Others, however, are spectators who watch the whole thing unfold from afar, and those of us who've seen it tend to follow the careers of those athletes they saw grow up, or even grew up alongside.

For me, those athletes were Thurman Thomas and John Simpson, both star athletes and kids in my class at Willowridge High School in the early 1980s.

It was a treat just wondering back then where they would end up, especially Thomas, who was a bit of a young legend in those days.

For a very brief moment in my life, I was able to step onto the same football field and wear the same uniform as they wore, and up close I saw how special they really were.

Simpson, who is now in his 50s and living in Corsicana, Texas, was a track star and defensive back with blazing speed back then.

Even today, it could smoke a lot of pros in the 40 yard dash.

Thomas, who emulated the likes of Walter Payton and Earl Campbell on the field, was his own kind of runner.

Over the course of two years, Thomas and Simpson and dozens of other young men, donned the silver and blue and put the Willowridge Eagles on the map of high school sports, ascending to the Texas 4A championship game two years in a row.

The Eagles would be 1-1 in those state games, but everyone knew who they were, and everyone knew who was running the ball for that team.

In 1984, Simpson and Thomas were both seniors and heading off in different directions, and at the time they were undecided.

Thomas, who was in my typing class (yes, we took that in the 80s) came in to the class two weeks before signing day wearing a University of Texas Longhorns jogging suit, leading many of us to believe we’d see him donning the burnt orange and running across the same field as Campbell had a decade earlier.

But he never said for sure.

Simpson though, confided in his coach and decided that Baylor was his best bet, and that is where he went and made his mark.

Simpson, who was a good friend in those days in a few of my classes, let us all know Baylor would be his choice.

Thomas, however, was mum and fooled some of us when he went north to Oklahoma State University where he starred with Barry Sanders for a few years.

The rest is ancient history.

Both were drafted with Simpson going to the Chicago Bears, before stints with other NFL teams, the CFL, and other start up leagues.

He eventually came back home, earned a master's degree and shared his knowledge with ohter young athletes.

And at 52, he still looks like he's in top shape

Thomas went on to a career in the NFL, appearing in four Super Bowls and eventually earning his bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, in Canton.

In 2018, just as it did in 1980-something, National Signing Day changes lives and sets these kids on the path to something special.

That was the case for Thomas and Simpson, and it will undoubtedly be the case for thousands more this year.

Image: Shutterstock

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