Leonard Fournette's pulverizing performance against Auburn turned plenty of heads, but for those who knew Fournette growing up in New Orleans, watching defenders bounce off of him like 12-year-old children is something that's been going on since, well, the defenders were actual 12-year-old children.
From George Schroeder's profile of Fournette in USA TODAY:
When he was 6, Fournette quit playing “park ball” — the youth leagues in New Orleans — because he didn’t want to run two laps around the park, the traditional start to every practice.
“I hated it,” he said. “I was like, ‘Man, that’s not for me.’ ”
A few years later, he returned. And at Hunter’s Field and Goretti’s Park, the legend began. At 12, his talent was too much. Parents from opposing teams signed a petition to have him banned.
“He was bigger than everyone,” says Corey Scott, Fournette’s uncle. “He basically just destroyed ‘park ball.’ He was running over all the kids.”
Here's your irony: "bigger than every one," "just destroyed [Auburn]" and "running over all the kids" still applied as much in Baton Rouge last Saturday as they did for park ball. Maybe there's still time for the remaining coaches on LSU's schedule to put together their own petition?
If not, Fournette's well on his way to a New York City invite at the minimum; he's currently the unanimous No. 1 choice in CBS Sports' Heisman Watch.
HT: B/R
