Some people are born perfectly gifted to one particular sport where they can dominate and show the world why they can be the best of the best.
Then there are others who are so outrageously naturally talented that they can translate their skills from one sport to another and only need to adjust to the rules of the game before they can truly dominate.
That’s what may be on our hands in the form of a three-star rated recruit out of Texas that just barely cracks the list of the top-50 prospects in the state – yet, has 23 Division I offers, including from powerhouse schools like Oregon, Florida State, USC, LSU, and Michigan.
The best part? He played his first snap of high school football just months ago. (And that’s American football, if you’re reading this in Europe, not ‘soccer’.)
Consider the curious case of defensive end prospect Tobi Haastrup – a UK native who, just months ago didn’t know the difference between the neutral zone and the end zone.
Now, he’s one of the most sought after recruits in the nation and has some of America’s most prestigious sporting institutions falling over each other to get his signature.
Tobi Haastrup is a track star turned American football player who has colleges fighting for him
After learning the game earlier this year, Haastrup has 23 offers from Division I schools
Haastrup was born in Southeast London and spent his early childhood living in the UK before hopping across the pond.
After living in Sacramento, California for a few years, Haastrup’s family moved to football-mad Houston, Texas.
Haastrup was excelling on the track as a sprinter and competing in the shot-put at Mayde Creek High School when new head coach Mike Arogbonlo was briefed on the potential they had if they could convince the Londoner to switch sports.
‘The first thing I was told by the coaching staff was (how big it would be) if I could get this kid to come out that looks great, is fast — he’s a great athlete,’ Arogbonlo told The Athletic’s Grace Raynor. ‘I said, ‘OK.’ And I went and found him, and we started talking.’
The pair connected quickly, bonding over their Nigerian roots. Arogbonlo took up the project and told The Athletic that he was forced to strip the game down to its bare bones for Haastrup.
‘It just kind of takes you back to the basics,’ Arogbonlo said. ‘There were a lot of questions that he had: ‘What’s a first down? Where’s the down marker? What’s a defensive end, and what’s the difference between a defensive end and an outside linebacker?’ He didn’t know any of those things. But he’s been like a sponge, just soaking in whatever he can.’
So far, we’ve ignored two key things about Haastrup. First is his physique: clocking in at about 6-feet-4 and weighing 240 pounds.
The second is that he’s fast. Like, really fast. Like, he takes that 6-foot-4, 240 pound frame and clocks a 10.7 in the 100-meter dash kind of fast. Just watch the game tape below. You can tell on the first play what kind of athlete Haastrup is.
Despite coaches simplifying the game as much as possible – even helping Haastrup by drawing connections to track along the way – he still had a few hiccups in his first game.
The first time that he played, he was so focused on his pass rushing that he lined up offsides about three times.
He also finished the night with five sacks. In one game.
Despite how raw he is, within a week of his first ever high school football game, eleven schools sent Haastrup scholarship offers.
Two state schools – Texas-El Paso (UTEP) and Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) – were the first. But they were quickly joined by many others – including the likes of SEC powerhouses Ole Miss and LSU.
Eventually, more offers made their way through the pipeline – bringing his total to 23 scholarship offers.
So far, Haastrup has made official visits to Boston College, Missouri, Vanderbilt, Florida State, Texas Tech, and USC – with visits to Michigan and Oregon scheduled before the end of the month.
Other schools that have offered him include the likes of TCU, Tennessee, and Texas A&M – where his older sister is currently studying neuroscience.
Haastrup stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds, but runs the 100m dash in 10.7 seconds
Despite his athletic promise, Haastrup says he has plans to go to medical school
While football could be his true calling, Haastrup has his head on straight – telling The Athletic that academics are important to him and that he hopes to attend medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon.
Haastrup also told the outlet that development will be a major factor into where he goes: ‘Because I’m still so new to the sport. It’s definitely going to be one of the most important decisions I make in my life.’
His coach, Arogbonlo, sees the potential that his prodigy can bring.
‘(Whoever gets him), they’re getting a kid with a lot of upside,’ Arogbonlo told The Athletic. ‘I suspect with more time, with nutrition, with the training table on the next level, with the coaching staffs, I just expect a huge growth.
‘I really believe he’s a Sunday [NFL] player. That’s the kind of kid I think he is. If God could make a football player, he made Tobi.’
