I was very surprised earlier today to read that Ronald Curry had climbed the depth charts to be the #3 wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders. He’s behind only Jerry Rice and Jerry Porter. Just a few days ago, the #3 spot was held by the great Tim Brown. From Tim Brown to Ronald Curry? How did that happen? When did Ronald Curry become a wide receiver?
You may remember Curry from his days at UNC, where he was the starting quarterback and, for a time, also the starting point guard. His football career was uneven, disappointing even, but he did graduate as the Tar Heels’ all time leader in passing and total offense.
How did he end up on the Raiders as a receiver? He clearly wasn’t good enough in college to be drafted as a quarterback. So, why did the Raiders draft him? According to head man Al Davis, “we drafted him based on his high school football, which was outstanding.” Whoa! They drafted him based on his high school production? High school? How often does that happen in the NFL? And how does a guy in Oakland know enough about a high school player from Hampton, Virginia that he decides to draft him four years later without a position?
Well, let’s get in the way-back machine and revisit the high school career of the fabled Ronald Curry.
Curry attended Hampton High School in the Peninsula District of southeastern Virginia. This area is a football and basketball goldmine, turning out such stars as Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, Joe Smith, Lawrence Taylor and Dre Bly. Curry took Hampton by storm, starting at quarterback as a freshman. Hampton lost once his freshman year, and then never again until after he left. Three straight Virginia class AAA Division 5 state championships, and the games were rarely close.
Curry wasn’t just a regional or state star, he became a national figure. He was voted first-team all state QB four times. He was first-team all-state as a defensive back and kick returner three times each. USA Today voted him as the 1st team All-American quarterback twice; he was the first junior ever picked for the position.
Coaches everywhere flocked to see his games. He was compared to Charlie Ward, but with John Elway’s arm. Bobby Bowden called him (and still does) the greatest high school football player he’d ever seen.
It turned out he could play a little basketball as well. Curry was twice voted the state player of the year, leading Hampton to the state title as a junior. As a senior, he was a Parade and McDonald’s All-American, with McDonald’s selecting him as their player of the year (he even won the McDonald’s dunk contest and game MVP honors).
If the wins and awards aren’t enough, how about his numbers? Staggering. Here are a few:

• Finished with career totals of 8,212 passing yards and 11,519 total yards, both state records
• Had career totals of 90 passing TDs, 74 rushing TDs and 22 return TDs
• One of every 8 pass attempts in his career went for a touchdown
• One of every 5 rushes in his senior year went for a touchdown
• Intercepted 8 passes in his senior year

Curry was such a blinding light that other talents in his district went largely unnoticed. Another talented quarterback at a rival school happened to be in the same class as Curry. He too was a gifted athlete, but he was never as good as Curry. While lots of schools wanted him, he waited until after Curry decided where he was going before making his own decision. It is rumored that he wanted to go to Virginia, but since Curry was also considering the Cavaliers, he waited. When Curry picked Virginia (more on that later), the young quarterback picked Virginia Tech. Finally out from under Curry’s shadow, he did all right for himself. Yes, while he was never even picked first team all-district, it turned out that Michael Vick was a pretty good player too.
So, back to the recruiting of Ronald Curry. By the fall of his senior year, it was widely believed that Curry was down to three schools, Virginia, Florida State and North Carolina, possibly in that order. While he was pegged as a football star all along, his basketball skills had grown so that everyone wanted him for that as well. Football coaches certainly didn’t want to share him, but they knew they’d have to. Even though it was believed, at least locally, that he was a much better football prospect, the sheer momentum of his legend inflated his national rep as a basketball player. It might have affected Curry’s own opinion of himself as well. There were actually rumors that he might skip college for the NBA (incredibly, there were similar rumors that he’d skip college for the NFL, even though that isn’t even allowed).
Of course, the recruiting circus was getting to be nearly unmanageable. In an effort to end it all, Curry announced early. In September, just before a Thursday night ESPN football game between Auburn and Virginia in Charlottesville, Curry announced. He was going to be a Cavalier. The word spread quickly through the stadium and fans didn’t seem to even care that their team lost that night. The home state savior was on his way.
Or was he?
As time passed, it started looking less and less like a sure thing. Curry didn’t sign at the first available date in February. Shortly thereafter, Virginia fired basketball coach Jeff Jones after several mediocre seasons. Meanwhile, the rumor mill was spinning like mad. The big rumors centered on the pressures of Nike. Nike had coincidently decided to sponsor Hampton High School’s athletic teams during Curry’s years there. As his high school basketball coach Mike Smith said, “I’ve never seen [Curry] with anything but Nikes on his feet.”
Curry liked Nike. Nike liked Curry. Virginia wore Reebok.
North Carolina has always worn Nike.
In late March, Ronald Curry held a press conference to announce that he was not going to Virginia after all. He would be attending archrival North Carolina. As you might imagine, this didn’t go over well in the Commonwealth. Curry instantly became enemy number one for Virginia fans who took every opportunity over the next four years to boo Curry and call him names like Benedict Curry. Unfortunately for Curry, there was plenty for fans and rivals alike to boo about.
Curry’s college career didn’t live up to expectations. How could it have? He would have had to win national titles in both football and basketball while simultaneously serving the crowds with loaves and fishes.
His basketball career lasted only two seasons. He started a bunch games as a freshman, but never looked comfortable. He played too fast and wild, never learning when not to drive to the basket. He’d either have his shot swatted or he’d try to kick it out and would hit someone in the fourth row. Also, it was discovered that he couldn’t shoot. To make matters worse, a much less heralded classmate who was also on a football scholarship turned out to be a better basketball player. Julius Peppers was a better football player too.
Curry’s college football career, as I mentioned above was pretty mediocre. He started for most of his four years and had moments of brilliance. Unfortunately, he played for three different offensive coordinators in his four years. He also ruptured his Achilles tendon in his sophomore season and never seemed to fully recover. He seemed slower, but that may have been a byproduct of a loss in confidence and/or confusion over his ever changing offensive schemes. His biggest weakness turned out to be accuracy. While Curry has a cannon of an arm, he never learned how to throw a ball under 30 yards. Screen passes went either over the bench or bounced twice. A mitigating factor is that Curry’s teams were pretty sad. He had little talent to work with and often seemed to do best when things broke down and he’d have to just run.
So, the legend ended in college. Ronald Curry would not become the greatest American athlete of all time. He would not be the next Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders or even Danny Ainge, playing in two professional leagues.
It appeared that college was where his story would end. He certainly wasn’t a good enough college QB to be considered for an NFL position.
But, it turns out all that high school hype had some lasting value. NFL guys, or at least Al Davis, knew Ron Curry and what he was once capable of. He didn’t just play QB in high school, he played a great defensive back, he returned kicks, heck he even punted. So, Davis took a chance, thinking he’d use Curry in the defensive backfield. Instead Curry is now slated to see a lot of playing time at wide receiver. The next Slash. Watch out for the reverse option pass! While he couldn’t throw a screen for a squat, he sure as hell could throw a bomb.
Ronald Curry has gone from untouchable star to disappointing underachiever to semi-anonymous NFL everyman, looking to make (remake?) a name for himself.
While I was one of those Virginia fans who was crushed when he spurned my Cavaliers, I hope Ron Curry makes it in Oakland. Through it all, he has always seemed like a good guy, a guy who got caught up in something that he just couldn’t quite handle. He finally seems to be in a place where he can just be himself. He doesn’t have to live up to his own legend.
I just hope they wear Nike in Oakland.