Some folks like high school sports commentary . . . This will make them happy

The Wilmington (Del.) News Journal tells us about a 13-year-old seventh grader who has made a verbal commitment to play football at the University of Southern California.

David Sills is not in high school yet, but he knows where he wants to play college quarterback.

On Thursday, one day after National Signing Day saw the nation's best players sign with the nation's top programs, the 13-year-old, seventh-grader at Red Lion Christian Academy made a verbal commitment to a major program -- the University of Southern California.

Sills won't be able to sign his letter of intent until 2015.

USC coach Lane Kiffin offered a scholarship to Sills via telephone Thursday.

As someone who has been involved in high school sports for -- Oh, My God -- about 35 years, I am pretty much appalled. Oh, it’s news and should be reported, but this is insane.

This kid's chance for anything remotely resembling a normal teen-hood are gone. He's *always* gonna be "The Kid Who Is Going To USC" (tm).

A great high school quarterback might start three years and throw for say 3,000 yards, maybe 50-75 touchdowns and rush for maybe 25-35. That's the best of the best, maybe the top give kids every year.

This kid's going to be expected to start all four years in high school and pretty much double those numbers.

He’s unlikely to go to his local public school, as many teens do, unless it has a hotshot coach with a pure passing offense. I bet he winds up at a place like Mater Dei, pretty much a football factory in, of all places, southern California.

Obviously, it’s simply a verbal commitment, and I will eat my hippie-yarn hat if Lane Kiffin, who lasted a year at Tennessee, is still at USC when the kid graduates from high school.

I am old, so I remember things.

Here’s a story from 1988 about a similar player, Todd Marinovich, who never made it big despite his “pedigree.”