Plenty of sports hounds dream of being a big-time sportscaster. There’s certainly a truckload full of incentives — travel, lights, cameras, hobnobbing with athletes, dining in first-class restaurants with A-list celebrities and all that. But nobody sees all the hard work it takes to arrive in that rare spotlight. Paying dues does not adequately cover it. … Read more
Last Sunday, after more than two years of waiting, Landry Jones finally played in his first NFL regular-season game for the Pittsburgh Steelers. This Sunday, the former National Scouting Report prospect could make his first NFL start. “It’s safe to prepare as if Landry Jones is our quarterback this week,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told … Read more
If you choose college coaching as a career, count on having a moving van on call. Such was the case for Sara Rondeau. It’s a hard life to be uprooted so often in search of the ideal job. Thankfully, Rondeau found that last year in Indiana. But the job she’d always dreamed of wasn’t in coaching … Read more
Many college prospects across the country will have a difficult decision to make next month: to sign or not to sign. The early signing period for high school seniors who will be enrolling at NCAA Division I or II universities during the 2016-17 school year is Nov. 11-18. Student-athletes in all sports except football, soccer … Read more
Virginia’s high school football Player of the Year. Not bad. Recruited by some of the region’s premier college football programs. Even better. But for Jim Simpson, National Scouting Report’s Northern Virginia area director, that’s where the good news ended — or so it seemed — in 1976. “My story should have been an athletic success … Read more
Zordan Holman can’t imagine would life would have been like today if his family had not left their native land shortly before the turn of the century. Instead, the former National Scouting Report prospect is having the time of his life as a freshman tight end on the UConn football team. Zordan was still a … Read more
Paul Nelson had a calling. His father joined the military. His grandfather joined the military. So Nelson followed in their footsteps. Nineteen years ago, Nelson joined the military, too. He spent the first six years in the Army and the last 13 in the Air Force, working in transportation logistics in the quality assurance and … Read more
Ireland is a long way from Phoenix, Ariz. Five thousand miles to be exact. But that didn’t scare Jerry Vance when he decided to open the first National Scouting Report office not far from Dublin in his native country. “Although I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years and am well established there,” said the … Read more
It was a really hot, August day in Birmingham, Ala. During a mid-afternoon break of the National Scouting Report national meeting, I was chatting with a fellow high school scout when the phone rang. “Alan?” a woman’s voice asked. “Yes, how can I help you?” “This is Sonja Thomas,” she said. Her voice was emotional … Read more
National Scouting Report discovered North Central Louisiana area director Mason Alexander 20 years ago at a baseball showcase in Arlington, Texas. A standout pitcher/outfielder at Longview High School, Alexander had been overlooked by college coaches. He had given up hope of playing in college until an NSR scout introduced himself to Alexander’s father, who was … Read more
