It seemed like any other normal August night. It was hot, humid and there was a chance of a late evening thunderstorm.
There were three of us in the sports department back then when I was the Sports Editor of the Journal in Seneca, South Carolina. It was the summer of 2007, and we were all headed out to cover the start of the high school football season.
I was on my way to Central to cover D.W. Daniel High School, which was opening that season at home against Woodmont. In the preseason, the coaches at Daniel told us all about this sophomore phenom who played wide receiver and safety.
His name was DeAndre Hopkins.
When I got to the game, then Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden was leaning against the fence at old Singleton Field. I had been covering Clemson Athletics for over three years at the time, as part of my duties at the Journal. Coach Bowden, like Dabo Swinney, is always approachable and easy to talk to.
“What are you doing here,” Bowden asked me.
“I’m here to cover the game,” I responded.
“You need to watch Nuk,” he said. “He is a heck of a football player.”
Bowden knew about Hopkins since he was in middle school, where he was already turning heads with his electrifying plays. Back then, Hopkins played quarterback and, as Bowden told me, “He has a really good arm.”
Hopkins was an all-around athlete who excelled in every sport. He was an excellent basketball player and even gave up football in his freshman year at Daniel to concentrate on the hardwood.
However, he was back playing football a year later, and he was all anyone could talk about. I suddenly learned why.
The Lions were playing Woodmont that night and the Wildcats received the football first. On the third play from scrimmage, the Woodmont quarterback dropped back to pass and started to look over the field.
At the same time, Hopkins, who was playing safety, was watching the quarterback’s eyes. The quarterback never had a chance, as he threw the ball deep down the near sideline.
Hopkins, as we all know, is a ballhawk and has great hands, and that was never more evident than on his first career interception in high school. It seemed like he came out of nowhere, as he stole the ball out of the air and started running down the sideline.
When he saw the pursuit coming, he juked to make one would-be-tackler miss and then cut inside, where he two other Wildcats were flailing at his feet.
He continued to race across the field, while out running the rest of the Woodmont offense on his way to the end zone. It was an amazing play.
It was so amazing, I never saw a high school player do it before or after, and I covered high school football for 15 years.
When Hopkins ran across the goal line, I leaned to my right and I said to my colleague, “He will play on Sundays.”
That was my first introduction to DeAndre “Nuk” Hopkins. He went onto catch a couple of more touchdowns that night, as Daniel rolled to an easy victory.
Hopkins finished his sophomore year with a South Carolina High School League record 13 interceptions, as he went on to win his first of three consecutive Area Player of the Year honors.
After a stellar high school career, where Hopkins helped Daniel play for a State Championship in football and win it in basketball, I had the pleasure of covering Hopkins at Clemson, too.
It was cool to watch him flourish at the college level. As a freshman, Hopkins set the freshman record for receptions and yards in a season. He is still the only Clemson player in history to have 100 or more receiving yards in three bowl games.
Hopkins became the second player in the history of the ACC to record at least 50 receptions as both a freshman and as a sophomore and finished his Clemson career as the all-time leader in receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and 100-yard games.
Of course, he will forever live in Clemson lore thanks to his 26-yard reception on fourth-and-16 to lift the Tigers to a stunning walk-off victory over LSU in the 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl. It was his last game as a Clemson Tiger.
So, I do not have to explain how cool it was for me to see Hopkins and his family celebrate following the Kansas City Chiefs’ win over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
Hopkins is headed to the Super Bowl, the only player I covered in high school to go on and play in a Super Bowl and I have been doing this for 27 years.
The former Clemson star has had a great career in the NFL, with 12,965 receiving yards, a five-time All-Pro and five Pro Bowl selections. The only thing that’s eluded him was playing in and winning a Super Bowl.
On Feb. 9, Hopkins will get that opportunity, and I will be pulling for him, as I know the towns of Central and Clemson will too.
—photo by Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images