Why some NFL players say their high school during player introductions

The Detroit Lions face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs on Sunday.

Before the game kicked off, Lions wide receiver Josh Reynolds caught fans’ attention when, during his player introduction, he said his high school, John Jay High School.

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Usually, NFL players say the college they went to – in Reynolds’ case it would be Texas A&M.

However, it is not uncommon for players to shout out their high schools and there’s a few reasons why.

Why do some NFL players say their high school during player introductions?

Player introductions go back decades, starting in the 1970s with Monday Night Football.

It originated from player intros on college football broadcasts when players would run up to a microphone and introduce themselves and name their school.

Nowadays it’s a staple of Sunday Night Football but some players insist on saying their high schools instead.

One reason is because they didn’t have a great college career, or that it was underwhelming.

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They may have also left their college on a bad note having fallen out with a coach or player, so refuse to shout them out and give them props during their player introduction.

Some players may not have even gone to college or gone to several different ones. In that regard naming a high school is just simpler.

Other players may also just want to shine a light on their lesser-known high school.

Colleges often get all the plaudits in developing a player but for many individuals it’s their high school years that were their most formative.

Paying homage to those during a player introduction is a nice tribute and a way of giving them national credit when they otherwise might not receive it.

A producer on Sunday Night Football for NBC, told the LA Times:

“There were some guys who had a beef with their college when they left and decided to give their props to their high school, or maybe they had a better experience in high school. So we always let them use which school they wanted to reference.”

Others, however, might just do it because it’s fun.

Players ultimately have free rein to say what they like during their player introductions, and as we have seen over the years this gives them license to be creative.

Famous funny example of player introductions include Randy Moss saying Rand University in 2012, Tony Gonzalez’s Anchorman/Ron Burgundy reference, Terrell Suggs’ Ball So Hard University, Greg Hardy’s Hogwarts, and Odell Beckham Jr’s ‘HIM’ Univeristy.