FB: Pope busy with all-star game, recruiting
year with 17 touchdowns. (Photo by John Krueger)
In today’s nationally televised game featuring some of the nation’s best high school football players, Carthage’s Edward Pope finishes a high school football career that almost wasn’t.
“I wasn’t even going to play football when I got to high school,” said Pope, who established himself as a junior high basketball standout and was already dunking as an eighth-grader. “Once I got out there, I just went out there and played my game.
“(Basketball) was my sport. That was a family sport for me. I still love basketball but I can’t play basketball like I can football. There’s just something about it.”
Pope has proven that, and his reward is playing in today’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio at noon on NBC.
In four years as a varsity football player, the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Pope helped Carthage to three consecutive Class 3A Division II state championships, received all-state honors as a safety, gained more than 2,000 yards from scrimmage and scored 30 total touchdowns.
Pope, who was recruited as a safety through his junior season, exploded on the offensive side of the ball in 2011, catching 76 passes for 1,233 yards and 16 touchdowns. All three rank second in Carthage’s single-season receiving annals behind Jalen Claiborne’s 2010 totals.
“He’s the only player that I’ve coached that has been a four-year starter in 21 years of coaching,” said Carthage head coach Scott Surratt. “He’s a special young man. His attitude is incredible. He’ll light up any room he walks in.”
Pope gives Carthage a U.S. Army All-American for the second consecutive year. Linebacker Kendall Thompson played in last year’s game along with Daingerfield’s Steve Edmond, both of whom now play for Texas. Pope has played safety all week in preparation for today’s game because of postseason surgery on a pinky finger, which has required him to wear a cast.
Pope verbally committed to TCU this past February, the school older brother Jason Teague finished his college career as a cornerback after playing at Tyler Junior College. But interest in Pope remains high around the region as his receiving exploits caught the eyes of numerous programs.
Pope is listening, too.
Missouri, which has flourished recruiting Texas natives during coach Gary Pinkel’s tenure and has signed players from East Texas, will receive an official visit this month from Pope. He has not set any other official visits, but expects to make arrangements when he returns to school next week.
“He’s verbally committed to TCU, but there’s still a lot of people recruiting him,” Surratt said. “Arkansas is on him heavy now and Texas A&M’s on him. Baylor. There’s several schools that are still recruiting him.”
Pope added that teammate Greg Brantley, an offensive lineman committed to Oklahoma State, told him that the Cowboys could be interested in him.
In Pope’s mind, schools such as Missouri, Texas A&M and Arkansas have an advantage: Southeastern Conference affiliation. Mizzou and Texas A&M join the SEC later this year, and Pope said the move influences how he feels about those two programs.
“The SEC is one of the powerhouses of college football,” Pope said. “If you get in there, you’re more likely to get to the NFL, which is my goal.”
Pope said he prefers to play receiver, but “I really don’t care. I just love to play the game.” Surratt said Pope is easily capable of playing either position at the college level.
“Some colleges that are still recruiting him want him as a receiver and some of them want him as a safety,” Surratt said. “He’s very versatile and that’s going to help. Going into this year I thought he’d be better as a safety. Now I think he’ll probably end up on the offensive side.”
Surratt said that adding bulk to a legitimate 6-3 frame is a key for Pope, who has transitioned from football to basketball to track his entire high school career and never gotten an offseason to add bulk. Surratt believes Pope can gain 20 to 25 pounds of muscle in his first two years in a college program, which will increase his strength and speed since it’s good weight.
Regardless of which school or position he winds up, Pope is expected to be a quality college football player. Scout.com ranks him as three-star recruit and the No. 32 safety in the country, while ESPN.com rates him as a three-star recruit and the No. 28 safety. Rivals.com rates Pope as a four-star player, the No. 17 athlete, the No. 30 player in Texas and the No. 206 overall recruit in the nation. Then there’s 247sports.com, which has Pope as the 18th athlete, 31st player in Texas and 239th recruit nationally.
Like Surratt, Scout.com national recruiting analyst Greg Powers believes Pope can play on either side of the ball, though he added that the next Scout.com rankings update could see Pope switched from a safety, which the site has evaluated him as so far, to a receiver.
“It just seems he’s a little more aggressive on the offensive side of the ball,” Powers said. “I would honestly like him to get a little bit bigger if he’s going to play defense. I do think he has the mentality to come downhill and blow people up but if he’s better on offense, why not play him on that side of the ball?
“Honestly, he’s an athlete and I think he could play either position.”
With the Feb. 1 National Signing Day less than four weeks away, Pope simply wants to make the choice that’s best for him.
“I know I need to go where I feel the most at home,” he said, “not where a whole bunch of people want me to go.”