710 Classic Picks: Paul Gallant on why you must see Clowney’s HS highlights

Apr 11, 2020, 12:45 AM | Updated: Apr 15, 2020, 9:49 am

Jadeveon Clowney is impressive in the NFL, but his high school highlights are another level. (Getty)

(Getty)

Seattle Sports

With the sports world at a standstill, we’re checking in with the cast of characters from 710 ESPN Seattle and 710Sports.com to find out what they’ve been watching or reading to get their sports fix, or what sports memories they have that other fans in the Seattle area (and beyond) might connect with.

Schedule: Classic Mariners games air at 7 every night on 710

Here’s what Paul Gallant of 710 ESPN Seatlle’s Danny and Gallant has picked out.

1. Full game: 2012 NFL Playoffs – Ravens 38, Broncos 35 (2OT)

As a neutral observer, this was greatest NFL game that I ever saw live. In fact, this is the most ridiculous sporting event that I’ve ever watched.

Trindon Holliday, a 5-foot-5 speed demon who played in just 33 career games for five teams, had return touchdowns of 90 and 104 yards.

Joe “Moonball” Flacco was like a teenager playing Madden, rocketing the ball straight up in the air hoping for a play. It worked.

Flacco completed just 18 of his 34 passes. But those 18 completions, including touchdown passes of 59, 32, and 70 yards, helped him rack up 331 yards in the game. That’s 18.4 yards per completion. This game helped jump-start an improbable Super Bowl run and helped him get paid.

That 70 yard touchdown – which tied the game with less than a minute to play – featured one of the worst plays by a safety in NFL history.

Terrell Suggs, who had partially torn his Achilles in May of that year while “doing conditioning workouts” (or allegedly playing basketball), had 10 tackles and two sacks.

Ray Lewis, who had torn his triceps in October, had 17 tackles. We’d later find out he may have been helped by something called “Deer Antler Spray.”

Peyton Manning had played an incredible first season for the Broncos. But yet again he struggled in a playoff game, throwing a critical pick 6, not to mention a backbreaking interception towards the end of the first overtime that set Baltimore up for the game-winning kick.

Did I mention this game had two overtimes? Plus, some good old fashioned Ray Lewis rambling at the end!

I had no dog in the fight for this game. Check that – I was rooting for Peyton Manning to lose. But I will never forget it.

2. Extended highlight video: Jadeveon Clowney as a high school senior

Nothing tickles me quite as much as watching a freakish athlete destroy his hopeless high school peers. And this highlight reel of Jadeveon Clowney, who is bigger, faster, and stronger than everyone he played against for South Pointe High School in Rock Hill, S.C., is absolutely hilarious.

Some highlights:

• at 0:14, despite being nearly 8 yards behind the play with no forward momentum, he tracks down a running back in just 40 yards.
• at :38, he runs for a 99-yard touchdown where it’s clear that no defender wants a piece of him.
• At 3:18, he Earl Campbells some dudes after taking a handoff out of a 3-point stance. So vintage.
• At 4:37, he suplexes some poor wretch (who looks a lot like me) on a doomed handoff.

3. Movie: “Friday Night Lights” (2004)

Of all the movies about high school football that I’ve ever seen, this one feels the most authentic.

They absolutely nail the setting of a football-obsessed small town in Texas. There’s some high school drama, speeches galore, and some impressively realistic football scenes.

The best part of the movie? Derek Luke, who plays hotshot running back Boobie Miles. I’ve never loved a character in a sports movie more.

4. Television series: “Friday Night Lights” (2006-11)

This couldn’t be MORE different than the movie. It’s a teenage soap opera featuring incredible acting by Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, and Taylor Kitsch. Pound for pound, it’s the best sports-themed television drama of all time.

This show has a special place in my heart. Why? Because it’s the first show that I ever binge-watched!

My first semester at Syracuse University (the fall of 2007) I didn’t have a television on campus. Or an Xbox. All I had was my MacBook. So during my first few months on campus, I only watched two things: my neighbor’s complete DVD set of “Scrubs,” and “Friday Night Lights,” which I streamed on NBC.com.

5. Documentary: “The U” – ESPN “30 For 30” series (2009)

I grew up a Florida Gators fan, and because of that, I couldn’t stand Miami as a kid. Those super talented early-2000s teams delivered Steve Spurrier and company some frustrating losses.

And then, I watched the “30 for 30,” which starts off with this incredible montage. Much like in “The Sopranos” or “Breaking Bad,” I found myself myself rooting for the team considered to be ‘bad guys’ by 80s America.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Paul Gallant on Twitter.