In February, “trick shot” videos by college quarterbacks were all the rage. First, it was career-long UConn backup Johnny McEntee, who mixed props and sites around his college campus with a wide variety of accurate passes and a fly soundtrack featuring MIA and MGMT. No sooner had McEntee’s video gone viral than Monmouth passer Alex Tanney emerged. Tanney essentially duplicated most of McEntee’s wondrous trick passes, albeit with lower production quality, fewer notable sites (the Monmouth gym is no Gampel Pavilion), and a less indie-hip soundtrack (MIA and MGMT > Wiz Khalifa and BOB).
Well, now a 12-year-old Iowan has gotten in on the act, with young Johnny Sullivan from Clinton, Iowa duplicating McEntee’s blindfolded feats and a number of the distance passes used by both of his collegiate predecessors.
Sure, Sullivan may not have as many willing human pass dummies or nearly as many cool props — his top assistants in the clip are his brother and an empty water jug — but there’s any number of attributes that make Sullivan’s clip more special. For starters, the way he excitedly stiffens up when he hears the jug hitting the ground in a sense of near disbelief is absolutely priceless. His excited hop over the Iowa bucket after hitting a trick shot off the wall of a building is almost as terrific.
Then there’s the way that Sullivan nearly duplicates the college videos’ interactions. For example, take this exchange between Sullivan and his older brother, when he’s throwing footballs from the roof of a three-story building.
Johnny Sullivan: “Kyle, move it back a little bit.”
Kyle Sullivan: “How far?”
JS: “Just … far.”
Like the collegiate videos, Sullivan’s accuracy is impressive … and that’s before you consider the fact that he’s only 12-years-old. Whether the one-off highlight reel helps land him a scholarship seems doubtful, but one thing is certain: He certainly put himself and Clinton, Iowa on the viral video map.
