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Super Bowl 49 starters and how they were rated out of high school

By Luke Dahlgren

Jan 5, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; General view of the All American Bowl logo before the start of the high school football game between the West and East at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 5, 2013; San Antonio, TX, USA; General view of the All American Bowl logo before the start of the high school football game between the West and East at the Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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A list of the starters for the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots shows a surprising lack of former high school superstars.

On the basis of their high school ratings alone, both the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots would probably lose to the Ohio State Buckeyes.

This is of course ridiculous, but it is interesting to look back and see how each Super Bowl starter was profiled as a fresh-eyed youngster in high school.

Here’s how the Seahawks and the Patriots stack up against each other.

There’s something interesting here: none of these players were rated as full five-star recruits coming out of high school. To be fair, it’s a bit of an assumption that LeGarrette Blount is going to be the starter; the Patriots may end up using Shane Vereen or any number of their other backs primarily. Bill Belichick may coax Kevin Faulk or Corey Dillon out of retirement for one more shot at glory.

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A few other players weren’t eligible for high school ratings, like the football Methuselah that is Tom Brady or the German Giant Sebastien Vollmer, but it is unlikely that they would have received high ratings anyway, considering Brady’s relatively low profile at Michigan and Vollmer anonymity overseas.

There are a few players on each side who were considered 4-star recruits out of high school: Marshawn Lynch, James Carpenter, Bruce Irvin and Vernon Maxwell for Seattle; Blount, Rob Gronkowski and Dont’a Hightower for New England. But other starters, like Seattle defensive end and bicycle thief Michael Bennett, came out of high school unrated. For the most part, though, the players have been given two or three-star ratings.

This is an inspiration for all the kids who want to make their dream happen in the NFL. You don’t need to be a 5-star recruit out of high school, with all of the big programs chasing you with

scholarship
scholarship /

offers. You just probably have to be a 2 or 3-star recruit that works really hard.

[H/T: SB Nation]

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