Another Week in the Life of Desired Recruit Jayden Wayne
That rare college football recruit keeps turning up in the Northwest. You know, the one who sees more stars than a punch-drunk boxer. Who transforms Power 5 programs into used-car lots that turn on the hard sell. Who suddenly has more Twitter followers than Ariana Grande.
Last year, it was Sam Huard. Last week, it was J.T. Tuimoloau. This week, it's Jayden Wayne.
My, oh, my, where will they go? How good will they be? Will they be considered hometown heroes for playing alongside the shores of Lake Washington or turncoat traitors for preferring to spend two or three seasons in a football factory town such as Columbus, Ohio?
Wayne is unlike the others; not in talent, but in curiosity.
Coming off his sophomore year, the impressionable 6-foot-5, 245-pound edge rusher from Lincoln High School in Tacoma, Washington, wants to see everything, go everywhere, meet everybody.
Who's to blame him? It's a once-in-a-lifetime free-for-all, with him caught in the middle, having everyone try to rip his arm out of the socket.
Since June, Wayne has been a one-man traveling caravan, touring the country and sampling the likes of the Southern cuisine of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and the Lone Star eats served up in Austin, Texas.
He's resembled a human Top 20 poll, posing in uniform for each of the top contenders.
He's politely informs the recruiting experts who come out of the shadows and breathlessly seek his reaction to each and every visit that they've all been simply fabulous, making three-dozen fan bases think he's a lock to come their way.
In following him on Twitter, Wayne appears to have more stamina than an Olympic marathon runner.
Consider this week alone: He had a long chat with LSU. He received a scholarship offer from Arizona. He arm-wrestled with Jimmy Lake; OK, he posed for another non-binding photo with the University of Washington football leader.
Whether or not Wayne becomes the next Lawyer Milloy, a Lincoln legend who turns himself into a Husky and even a Seahawk, he's treating the home school with care, which is always recommended. He began his summer with an unofficial Montlake meet-and-greet and now he's done a follow-up.
While Lake looks happy and well-rested with fall football camp a week away from Friday, Wayne looks young and healthy and maybe a little weary.
While he gets no days off, the coveted edge rusher felt compelled on social media to discourage anyone from suggesting another visit. He's got Lincoln work to do. He offered an itinerary.
It's not easy being Jayden Wayne. Consider trying to put together your personal graphic for Twitter that lists all of your three-dozen offers and growing. He's got Washington next to his kneecap, Texas poking his underarm, USC pushing up against his backside and Alabama nearly running off the page here.
Oh, the hectic life of a football phenom, just all of 16 years old, so loved and hotly pursued. It's great fun, isn't it? Isn't it?
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