Top-10 prep football recruit receives recruiting-related death threats from fans
One of the nation's 10 best rising senior football recruits -- and a top-two player at his position -- received death threats from "fans" of one college team on his short list.
The No. 10 overall and second-ranked offensive tackle recruit in the Class of 2014, Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.) High's Damian Prince recently answered a FaceTime call, and multiple masked men armed with guns threatened his life and the lives of his family, according to a feature by The Washington Post's Brandon Parker (h/t NJ.com).
“They were like, ‘If you don’t come to our school, we’ll kill you and your family,’ and, ‘We know where you live,'” Prince told The Post. “Somehow, they got my number and FaceTimed me, flashing guns and saying stuff. But they didn’t block their number or anything, so they weren’t too smart.
“Obviously, it can get very, very, very crazy. It bothered me at first, but I just brushed it off and once I kept declining the number, it just faded away. You just have to keep your circle small and prioritize, but I’m not going to lie; it’s hard sometimes.”
Hand it to Prince. Not only did he brush aside what must have been a harrowing experience -- even laughing off their insanity by illustrating their idiocy -- but give him credit for not naming the school that these crazed so-called "fans" root for.
Then again, Prince is a swift 6-foot-5, 292-pound beast on the field, so strength has never really been a question with him. Still, because of the stress in dealing with never-ending antics on social media that eventually escalated to the death threats, Prince nearly forced an early decision this past June, according to The Post feature.
Prince wouldn't name the school he nearly committed to, either, but he did narrow his lengthy list of offers down to 10 potential schools on Monday: Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio State, Rutgers, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Prince's hometown Terrapins have been in hottest pursuit, Parker reported.
Yet another reason to respect Prince: He'll reportedly slim that list to six by August 8, when he'll cease talking to coaches and focus on his senior season. His ultimate decision will come on National Signing Day in February, FaceTime death threats be damned.
“I try to prioritize as much as possible because the process can be a lot,” Prince told The Post. “I didn’t want to take any visits while I was committed somewhere, so I’m going to take my time, definitely wait until Signing Day and do the whole hat thing."
Hopefully, those gun-toting maniacs didn't increase the chances of Prince picking a cap with their favorite team's logo on it.
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