WATCH: Eric Cuffee UA jersey presentation
Waco (Texas) High School has a tremendous football tradition, producing some memorable names like current Kansas City Chief linebacker Derrick Johnson and former NFL players like Beasley Reece, Bruce Alford Sr., Cloyce Box, Benny Boynton, Martin Ruby, George Sauer Jr. and Lin Elliot. Eric Cuffee hopes someday to be mentioned in the same breath as those famous Waco High alums, and he’s well on his way to making that happen.
Cuffee, the nation’s No. 110 recruit and ninth-best cornerback, was honored as an Under Armour All-American Wednesday at his high school in front of friends, family, classmates, teammates and members of the community in Waco. For Cuffee, a top 20 recruit in Texas, receiving his official Under Armour jersey is a moment he’ll never forget.
“I’m still in shock,” Cuffee said. “I’m getting to play in a game that was my childhood dream, and now I’m participating in it. I still can remember watching Julio Jones playing in it, and now I’ll be out there in the same uniform, playing in the same game as those great players that were in it in the past. I’m still speechless.”
For those around Cuffee, the opportunity to play in the nation’s most prestigious high school football all-star game was no surprise. Waco High coach Marty Herbst raves about Cuffee and thinks the sky is the limit for his star defensive back.
“He’s got 40 or 50 offers, and we’ve had people coming to Waco High School that hadn’t been here in a long time -- from USC to Florida, to Michigan to Notre Dame and everybody in between,” Herbst said. “It’s easy to see why those schools have all come to recruit him. He’s a special talent. He can change the complexion of the game in one play. He’s athletically gifted in a lot of ways other high school players on dream about.”
That talent has made the recruiting process extremely difficult for Cuffee. While other top recruits have made early commitments, Cuffee continues to weigh all of his options and won’t make an announcement until Under Armour All-American Game in early January.
He took an official visit to Notre Dame in early September, and he’s still thinking about an official visit to Texas A&M this upcoming weekend for the Alabama game, but more than likely he’ll continue to focus on his visits after the season. He has been on unofficial visits to both A&M and Texas this fall and other schools like Baylor, TCU, Ole Miss, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Michigan and Arizona State has been high on his list in the past.