Like most high school quarterbacks in Texas, John Skelton hoped to play college football in the Lone Star State, and if everything went well, maybe the NFL after that.
He still could wind up in the pros, he just had to take an unexpected detour to The Bronx to get there.
The 6-foot-5 senior is poised to set every passing mark at Fordham, a school he barely had heard of until setting foot on its campus after his high school career at Burges H.S. in El Paso, Texas, was over. And despite Fordham’s status as a non-scholarship FCS (formerly Div. I-AA) school, Skelton has caught the eyes of several NFL scouts.
“He’s still got a long way to go and for a guy like him, it all depends on what he does this season and then at the combines and workouts,” one NFL scout said. “But he’s interesting.”
After a stellar career at Burges, Skelton got calls — but no scholarship offers — from major programs such as Texas, Texas Tech, SMU and even UTEP, where his father played.
“It was a really hard time for us,” Skelton’s father John, an assistant coach at Burges, said of the recruiting process.
So on a recruiting trip to Columbia, where a pair of his uncles played, Skelton and his family took a ride to Fordham.
“I was shocked people didn’t recruit him more,” said Rams coach Tom Masella, who had just gotten the head job four years ago. “He wasn’t on our list, but we got a tape of him and made John our top priority.”
It worked.
“I was skeptical,” said Skelton, 21. “There’s always the small school issue, but you have to take advantage of any opportunities you get.”
He became the starter midway through his freshman season and now because of his size — 245 pounds — and arm strength, he has become a prospect. He was named on a list of the top 12 senior college QBs in the country by NFL.com in June, alongside names such as Florida’s Tim Tebow and Texas’ Colt McCoy. Skelton begins his quest to prove he is among the elite when the Rams open the season Sept. 5 at Rhode Island.
“It was a bit of a surprise to be mentioned with Heisman Trophy winners,” said Skelton, wearing a Longhorns baseball cap. His brother, Steve, followed him to Fordham and is a junior tight end. “Those guys are good company to be with. But it’s still a preseason thing and I have to live up to it. That list did get me motivated, though.”
Masella feels similarly.
“That list is great, but we want to make sure he’s there at the end of the year,” said Masella, who believes Skelton deserves the recognition. “When I coached at Louisiana Tech, we had two guys who ended up playing in the NFL: Tim Rattay and Luke McCown. John would not be out of place with either one of them.”
He will find out soon enough.
“Every agent we’ve talked to says he can play in the pros,” the father said. “When we talked about going to Fordham in the first place, we battled about whether he could get to where he wanted to from there. But I told him that it doesn’t matter where you play, they’ll find you.”
They have. Now, they just have to like what they see.