Colorado football IOL signee Yahya Attia had a surprising admission about his new head coach with the Buffs, Deion Sanders: the Egyptian NFL Academy star had heard very little of Coach Prime growing up.
"I didn't know that much but I knew he was a professional at two sports and is a Hall of Famer," Attia told The US Sun. "I know his celebration and I know his kids are playing there."
Attia described his unorthodox path to the NCAA's highest division via London, England to The US Sun; catching the eye of an NFL Academy scout via social media.
"My friends convinced me to start engaging me in sports again (after an injury) and that's when I started playing American football for the Vienna Vikings two years ago," Attia prefaced before saying, "Back in Austria, I thought I was a good player because I was one of the bigger guys. A coach from the NFL Academy followed me and I posted my highlight - I didn't even know he was an academy coach."
Deion Sanders always going outside the box recruiting for Colorado football
Sanders is always going outside the box with his recruiting methods, and while it doesn't always work, it's led to spectacular results on occasion; Jordan Seaton and Cormani McClain's flips being the standout examples at Colorado, though Travis Hunter at Jackson State is perhaps the single most impressive recruiting win for any coach ever.
Attia is perhaps the most outside-the-box recruit Coach Prime has reeled in, with limited football experience and an overseas background. He doesn't fit Sanders' controversial description of what he's looking for in a lineman, but he does bring size and strength that was convincing enough to get him to the NFL Academy.
We shall see if this dice roll will pay off.