
Stephon Gilmore's shocking admission on college recruitment
Gilmore played at the quarterback position throughout high school, but when he had an opportunity to play in the defensive backfield at camps, he would shut everybody down. Perhaps it was fate's way of letting him know that he was playing in the wrong position.
That didn't stop Steve Spurrier, who was the head coach at South Carolina at the time, from trying to recruit him to play on the offensive side of the ball.
"It was crazy because I played quarterback in high school. I didn't play no defense at all," Gilmore said on The Money Down Podcast. "I was a guy recruited as an athlete. Spurrier recruited me. He was like, 'Man, you should play receiver.' I'm like, 'Man, I don't want to play receiver.' My dad was like, 'Man, you're a corner. Just play corner.' Because I used to go to camps and shut everybody down, and I had never played corner."
Spurrier never gave up on the dream of Gilmore playing on offense and even dialed up a few plays for him. However, once Gilmore started playing cornerback at the collegiate level, he never looked back.
He earned the starting job right out of the gate and developed into one of the best players in the country. That ultimately led to an incredibly successful NFL career with a Super Bowl win, Defensive MVP, two First-Team All-Pro nods and five Pro Bowls.
It's safe to say the move to corner was the right choice.
Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Georgia nabs commitment from 2026 4-star over Ohio State
The post Georgia nabs commitment from 2026 4-star over Ohio State appeared first on ClutchPoints. Georgia football is ending an epic June by topping Ohio State for a four-star recruit. The Bulldogs secured one more college football recruiting win before the calendar flips to July. Advertisement Georgia landed elite 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive lineman PJ Dean Monday. Hayes Fawcett of On3 shared the Buckeyes were in the final running. So was Georgia's Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina. But Dean fired off this message after committing. 'A dawg always finds his way home,' he shared via Fawcett. Dean adds to a fast-growing 2026 recruiting class in Athens. Again, head coach Kirby Smart and his staff are aggressively putting a bow on their '26 class for the summer. Especially with universities everywhere getting the green light to host official visits in June now. Georgia grabbed new accolade on recruiting trail Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Bulldogs and Smart's staff hit a new accolade during the final weekend of June. Advertisement James 'J.J.' Johnson arrived to Georgia Sunday before Dean's decision. Johnson enters the class as the nation's top-ranked defensive lineman. But that handed UGA this new claim per Fawcett. 'Georgia is the only school to land TWO No. 1 Ranked Recruits at their respective positions in the '26 Class,' Fawcett posted on X (formerly known as Twitter). That's because quarterback Jared Curtis became the first five-star pledged to Georgia. Curtis chose the Bulldogs in May. However, one SEC rival caught up to the Bulldogs on the five-star end. Alabama now boasts a national-best three five-star commits as of Monday. Xavier Griffin boosted the Crimson Tide class by choosing 'Bama Sunday. The linebacker even heads to Tuscaloosa as a former USC commit. But Griffin additionally becomes an in-state loss for Smart and and the Bulldogs — because he hails from nearby Gainesville, Georgia. Advertisement But Georgia is still putting together stout results on the trail. Including beating Texas and Michigan for four-star Chace Calicut. Fellow four-star wide receiver Craig Dandridge turned down three SEC rivals for the Bulldogs. Related: 4-star EDGE picks Ole Miss football over Ohio State, Washington Related: Georgia gets recruiting win over Oregon, USC with 4-star DB
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Bill Belichick gives Max Johnson update after severe leg injury
The post Bill Belichick gives Max Johnson update after severe leg injury appeared first on ClutchPoints. North Carolina football head coach Bill Belichick has one significant injury on his hands. Which came before the eight-time Super Bowl winning coach arrived at Chapel Hill. Belichick now provided an update on where things stand with Max Johnson. Advertisement The 2024 quarterback sustained a severe leg injury in 2024. Belichick revealed via Dan Morrison of On3 where the quarterback's health currently stands. 'Max is doing very well,' Belichick began. 'His rehab has been long and I have a lot of admiration for him.' Belichick acknowledged that the quarterback endured a rough road to recovery. But has hit his recovery hard. 'It's a tough injury, but nobody's worked harder than he has, and he certainly is able to do a lot more than he was last spring,' Belichick said. 'So, we'll see exactly where he is when things start, but it's a whole lot closer, and we certainly expect to see him out there. So, it's been very encouraging.' Advertisement Max Johnson in new-look North Carolina QB room with Bill Belichick Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Johnson will be a seasoned veteran on the college football side. He's earning a sixth season of eligibility. Belichick once needed to game plan against Johnson's father before. The UNC QB's dad is Brad Johnson, who won Super Bowl XXXVII with the Tampa Bay Buccaneer. Johnson and the Bucs won one year after Belichick's first Vince Lombardi Trophy victory with the New England Patriots. North Carolina is the younger Johnson's third collegiate stops. He previously played for LSU and Texas A&M. Johnson enters 2025 with 5,853 passing yards and 47 touchdowns. He's completed 60.5% of his throws. He only started against Minnesota, however, before his devastating leg ailment. Advertisement Johnson now enters a vastly different UNC QB room through Belichick. Gio Lopez is on board for the Tar Heels as a college football transfer portal addition. Lopez arrives via South Alabama. Belichick and North Carolina landed one more high-profile QB in March. Travis Burgess chose UNC over Auburn and UNC rival North Carolina State — giving the 'Heels a 6-foot-5 quarterback. Related: Former NFL safety puts Kirby Smart on blast for record vs. Alabama Related: Texas strikes out on 4-star EDGE amid Georgia, Alabama pursuit


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Giants' two Super Bowl teams ranked as the worst of the 21st century
Where do the New York Giants' Super Bowl XLII and XLVI teams rank among the 25 teams that have won the big game since 2000? 24th and 25th, that's where. In a recent listing from Bleacher Report, the Giants' two upset victories over Tom Brady and Bill Belichick's New England Patriots don't measure up to the rest of this centuries' other NFL championships. 25. 2011 New York Giants Pros: Behind a legendary pass rush, they dethroned the Patriots for the second time in a four-year span. Cons: They are the only team on this list with just nine regular-season wins and a negative scoring margin (minus-6). Despite that pass rush, only the 2018 Patriots gave up more yards per play (5.62), and Jason Pierre-Paul was their only first-team All-Pro. 24. 2007 New York Giants Pros: They slayed the then-18-0 Patriots in one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. Cons: They were only one win better than the 2011 team at 10-6, and their plus-22 regular-season scoring margin ranks second-last among the 25 teams on this list. They were also a horrendous 1-5 against teams with winning records, and they outscored their four playoff opponents by just 20 total points. They had just one Pro Bowler (Osi Umenyiora) and no first-team All-Pros. It's hard to argue with some of the cons here. The Giants were not dominant in the regular season in either year, making the Super Bowl behind two incredible postseason runs. played just one of those eight postseason games at home, which was omitted from these rankings. Among the victories were wins in Dallas, Green Bay and San Francisco. No cred for any of those?