Eighth-Grade Cornerback Gets 2 Incredible Offers

At 5'9" and 160 pounds, Cole Martin has two offers to play Division I football, though "I have a long time before I have to make that decision where I'm going to go to college." That's because the Arizona teenager is—get this—still in eighth grade. "I'm blessed,” says the cornerback and speedy track runner, who's been offered positions at Florida Atlantic University and the University of Nevada well before he's expected to hit the field at Hamilton High School in Chandler this fall, reports the Arizona Republic.

Martin's father, Demetrice Martin, was a standout cornerback at Michigan State in the 1990s and now coaches at the University of Arizona. "His clock sped up just being around him," Hamilton defensive coordinator Tim Dougherty tells the Republic, which notes Martin played for Hamilton in a the 40-team 7-on-7 tournament over the weekend. "I just try to be the best person I can be, follow the older guys' footsteps," says Martin, featured in a YouTube highlight reel viewed nearly 60,000 times. Of the offers, he adds, "It just tells me to keep working." (More football stories.)