Darrius Heyward-Bey first began playing football as a freshman in high school. He played on the JV squad as a freshman and earned the attention of the coaches, albeit probably not in the way he envisioned.

“I was actually late for my first-ever practice,” Heyward-Bey said. “We had to run laps because of me. I was way ahead of the other guys and I wasn’t getting tired. I knew I had to make up for being late. Running laps was my fault, so I had to show the rest of the guys I was serious about playing. The coaches saw how fast I was and they were impressed."