And ironically, the massive force on the line for King High School in Riverside, Ca., goes by the nickname “Junior.” Like, “Yeah guys, is it cool if my friend Junior plays some pick-up ball with us Sunday?” Then this behemoth the size of the WWE’s Big Show shows up. Got to love it.
Look at this beast!
The folks over at MaxPreps believe that 7-foot, 440-pound John Krahn might be the largest man to ever play the game, and it’s a certainty that he’s the biggest high school player in the nation at this time.
While Krahn admittedly still has some work to do to strengthen his football acumen, his pure size simply cannot be overlooked. Literally, you can’t miss the guy. Courtesy of an insane growth spurt which started in sixth grade, Krahn now stands taller than any player to ever suit up in the NFL.
Krahn was 6 feet tall in sixth grade, and was 6-foot-5 when he entered high school. As a 6-8, 330-pound sophomore, he cracked the varsity roster but recorded no statistics.
Since then Krahn has grown another four inches. MaxPreps believes he is the tallest player on a high school football roster this season.
Talk about raw talent coming by way of genetics, man. It’s like this kid was preordained a career in professional football, granted that’s what he chooses to pursue, and, as mentioned above, he puts in the work to learn the game better and translate that massive size into becoming a football workhorse.
There’s no doubt that, right now, Krahn is a raw player. He excels in the weight room, but struggles with his footwork. He is relatively new to the sport, but is working hard to improve.
“I’ve had minimal experience,” Krahn said. “I started in high school, but I’ve trained my way through, going to different camps.”
Krahn told MaxPreps that he’s attempting to shed some pounds by adhering to a 3,000-calorie diet comprised mainly of fish and chicken.
“I have to lose weight, for our team,” he said.
But by the sounds of it from that last statement, his head is in the right place, and that’s definitely something college recruiters will take notice of above and beyond the lineman’s enormous stature.
[Krahn] participated in USA Football’s National Development Games in Los Angeles over the summer, where he definitely caught the eye of several college coaches in attendance.
“We had Division I coaches on site that said they’d consider offering him if he lost some weight,” USA Football’s Jimmy Thomas told MaxPreps. “They think he could be a force at a lighter weight.”
Not only did Krahn see work in the trenches at the National Development Games, but he was also used in the backfield in jumbo offensive sets.
Presently, Corridan believes Krahn could be a good candidate for junior college, as a possible launching pad into a football career at a Division I school.
Division I coaches, listen up. You’d be fools not to take a runner on this guy. He should have scholarship offers from every institution in the BCS far as I’m concerned. The football can be taught, the size cannot.
Name me a running back that wouldn’t love this guy clearing out for him, or a quarterback that wouldn’t be intimidated seeing hands thrown up nearly 10-feet in the air on pass protection. That’s right, you can’t.
This kid is going to be something special if football is where his heart lies.
[via MaxPreps]