Dax Rapp

Note: This was originally going to be a piece on high school football stars, their various (and frustratingly few) experiences with recruiters during the big senior year, and how they come to determine the future of their athletic career while all their friends are partying like it's 1999. Well, over the four months it took to research this article, our subjects ended up making some pretty boring, yet understandable, decisions. To be honest, we were hoping for a little drama, some tragedy even, to spice up and diversify our sample group. Alas, everything went their way and we're left with a boring, storybook ending. Blame LaVell Edwards, but sometimes truth isn't stranger than fiction...

It's back. The glow of stadium lights on cool, autumn nights in the distance, the pep band's thunerous drumming, the whistles and yellow flags, and the rise of applause from the bleachers. High school football. For some players, it's more than just an extracurricular activity or a way to get chicks--it's a way of life, it's a future. What commitments have the players given to be on the gridiron and where will these commitments take them once the final second has ticked off of the final game clock? Here are the stories of some young, dedicated athletes and where their struggles have got them.

Dax Rapp, Class of 1997, Bountiful High

Dax Rapp never touched a football seriously until the summer before his sophomore year. He'd never even entertained the idea of playing football until his father, Meik, suggested that he ought to try kicking for the football team. Dax, who has played soccer since he could walk, says that he and his father used to go over to the high school and kick field goals. "The field goals weren't very pretty," he admits.

His kicking must have been attractive enough to the Bountiful High football coaches, because they wanted Dax's foot on the sophomore football team the moment they saw him kick. Opportunity knocked in his junior year when the senior starting kicker blew out his knee prior to the beginning of the season. Dax started on the varsity team his junior and senior year. Still he tried to keep his aspirations in check. "I was mostly thinking 'I better keep these seniors happy with me,'" he remembers. "I was pretty committed to doing what I had to do."

After his junior year, thoughts of playing college ball started crossing his mind. "I started thinking too much about it. It's hard not to when schools send you letters saying, 'We're watching you. We'll keep in touch.' I let it get to me."

According to Dax, the recruiting process takes care of itself. The colleges and universities know who they want. Dax sent letters and game film to each of the interested schools, some of which have renowned football programs. "Brigham Young sent theirs back real quick, I don't think they even looked at it," Dax chuckles.

Other schools gave him a more serious look. Ricks Junior College, BYU's de facto farm team, accepted Dax but didn't offer him scholarship money. The University of Utah suggested the possibility of a walk-on position after his freshman season. Which brings up another plot twist: Dax will serve a two-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he turns 19. He may have to wait until he's a 21-year-old sophomore to realize his destiny in college athletics.

Dax isn't too concerned, though. His parents have been supportive about his pursuits, which relieves a lot of the usual pressures. "They've never hounded me for anything," he says. "They're pretty cool."

Even if Dax doesn't go to college to play football, he'll still go. Playing high school football has been a worthwhile experience for Dax, even if he never plays again. "It's just another step, it seems like, in life. Hopefully I'll get another chance to give that pigskin a boot and help some team out. But I won't give up on my education if I don't."

Wes Patterson, Class of 1997, Bountiful High

Football for Wes started at the early age of seven in Louisiana. He knew how to play at the age of four, because his dad taught him how. "Ever since I can remember," he says. "I've always been playing."

It became apparent that Wes had some respectable talent when he was in seventh grade. His coach in the Ute Conference moved him to the tailback position where he racked up an impressive amount of rushing yards. The Bountiful High coach wanted a talented running back to play quarterback, so Wes was chosen to start as quarterback his junior and senior year. He also tossed aside the practice of treating the quarterback as the most fragile person on the team and let Wes start as free safety on the defensive side. Wes doesn't mind playing both teams, either. "I hate sitting on the bench," he explains, "you get cold."

The college scouts first noticed Wes during his junior year. Air Force Academy was at the game looking at two other Bountiful seniors, but also took notice of Wes. "They'd send me letters every other week in the off season."

But once one school gets interested, they all do. "The schools that recruited me the most were probably Air Force, Utah, Louisiana State University, and Brigham Young University. I was showing a little more interest in the Academy, LSU, and BYU. All throughout the season I'd have visits and stuff. They'd always be talking to me and calling me and writing to me and stuff like that...it got old."

Driven though somewhat distracted by all the scouting attention, Wes focused on improving his game and helping his team into the playoffs. When I interviewed Wes in early May, he had a lot on his mind. He had to decide which college's offer he was going to accept. He had tentatively committed to LSU, but that was something he could get out of.

Even though he was born in Louisiana and was offered a full scholarship, Wes was not quite sure he wanted to be that far from home and in that climate. "The weather," he remembers, "oh, it was hot--hot and humid."

Air Force had a deal on the table that was hard to refuse. Full scholarship and a possibility to be the second string varsity quarterback as a freshman. They were even going to kick in some money each month for living expenses. The only drawback is that Air Force wants its graduates to "aim high" and serve five years active duty--something that Wes wasn't sure of. "I don't really know if I want to be involved with the military. They even told me that it's military first and then football and baseball."

Wes was two days away from officially signing with Air Force when we spoke again. His preference was BYU, whose quarterback-driven offense produced Steve Young, Ty Detmer, and Jim MacMahon. But they weren't sure if they had a full scholarship available for him. Somehow, though, everything worked out the way Wes wanted it to. He informed Air Force that his decision was to not attend their school and that he would attend BYU, who will give him a full scholarship after one semester.

When I called Wes just before finishing this article to find out what his decision was, I could tell that he was very happy with the way things ended up. And it seemed that he was happy to get about the business of enjoying his last few weeks of High School. I won't bore you with Mr. Patterson's football stats, but let's just say that BYU just picked up a very talented and well-educated athlete. I don't think coach LaVell Edwards will be disappointed.

Jason Anderson, Class of 1997, Skyline High School

Skyline has won the last two 5A state football championships, and Jason got to play in both games. There should not be any question about Jason's commitment and ability. He's the man. He has been playing football all his life and began looking at it seriously in his ninth grade year, where his team went 10-0. Jason lives in the boundaries to attend Alta High, but chose to attend Skyline because of their reputation, and because of some bad experiences his older brother had with the football coaches at Alta.

His high school football career had a bit of a rough beginning. He almost quit the sophomore team at Skyline because he felt that the sophomore coaches had it out for him. "I kind of got the feeling that I wasn't liked because I wasn't from the Skyline area," he recalls. "I was so pissed that I almost quit."

The varsity coaches, though, knew they were dealing with plenty of talent and made it clear that he was more than welcome in their program the next year. Jason started his junior year as a cornerback, and worked hard all summer to secure the position of quarterback for his senior year. The colleges started noticing him during his junior year at Skyline; one, in particular, was BYU.

Jason was heavily recruited by BYU, Utah, Utah State, and several out-of-state colleges as well. BYU won the battle. He chose them because he liked their program and he really got along well with the coaches. As soon as NCAA rules allowed, BYU called his house once a week and met with him as often as possible. He even entertained a few phone calls from Coach Edwards himself.

Was the recruiting process difficult? "The hardest thing about the whole recruiting process is telling them 'no.'"

Now that he has said 'yes' at least once, I asked Jason to share his ultimate football dream. "I'd like to get a chance to play next year; I wouldn't expect to start because I'm a freshman. I just want a chance to play. Then I'd like to move into whatever position I'm going to play my sophomore year. I want to start three years straight at BYU; if you start for three years, you have a pretty good chance of getting drafted (into the NFL). And that would be the greatest thing. I'd be pretty stoked."

Looking over his statistics and hearing his history as an athlete, I wouldn't be surprised if this does happen. When it's all said and done, does he want to be known as the star quarterback with two state football championships and a football scholarship to BYU? Not really. "I'm still Jason like I was the year before and the year before that."