The return of Eric Berry

It doesn’t seem like it that was long ago that Eric Berry was tearing up the field at Creekside High School and terrorizing local defenses with his play on both sides of the ball. Berry was a quarterback who could make something out of nothing and a defensive back who would take your something and make it nothing. He is the best player I have ever covered in high school, which is saying something considering I also had the pleasure of watching Sandy Creek’s Calvin Johnson play.

The most memorable game I saw Berry play was against Starr’s Mill at Panther Stadium. The Panther defense that year was fast and had little trouble getting in their opponent’s backfield. It wasn’t enough t stop Berry. At one point, Starr’s Mill had Berry scrambling deep in Creekside territory only to have him evade six or seven tackles, run all over both sides of the field and scramble something like 90 yards for a touchdown. If I remember right, he had a couple more long runs for touchdowns that night, too.

Honestly, I don’t remember who won. But I remember watching that athleticism. I remember seeing things I couldn’t believe. It is moments like that where I realize I am incredibly fortunate to have a job where I can see amazing things on an almost weekly basis.

Berry went on to Tennessee and is now playing in the NFL for the Kansas City Chiefs. He got to make his professional debut this Friday at the Georgia Dome in a preseason game with the Falcons. In a few weeks, the games will be for real and everything he does on defense for the Chiefs will count. He will likely (hopefully) have a long career in the NFL and the world will get to see some amazing things for years to come.

Photo/Stan Prophitt/KidzSportsPhotography.com