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Perkins ready for jump to CU

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Contributed by: John Eisel/YourHub.com on 1/18/2007

NORTHGLENN - On Feb. 7, Community Christian School's Anthony Perkins will be the first student-athlete in the school's history to sign with a Division-I college program.

He is set to sign a letter of intent to play football for the University of Colorado in Boulder, which has an enrollment of more than 28,000 and a left-leaning reputation.

Community Christian School occupies the same building as Calvary Community Baptist Church, off 120th Avenue and Irma Street. Walking through the front doors, the chapel is on the left and school offices on the right.

According to CCS athletic director Gary Brown, who's been at the school for 16 years, a praise session is held the first day of the week with Bible study classes the remaining four days. Biblical themes and examples are tied into the curriculum.

The K-12 school educates about 300 kids - with about 27 seniors set to graduate this summer.

Perkins just kinds of shrugs off the hype surrounding his signing and says he expects everything will be fine, without going into detail.

"That sounds like Anthony," said Brown, who's been around Perkins since he started as a kindergartner at CCS. "Nothing usually bothers him. Nothing troubles him, and that's going to be his best attribute going to CU. It's going to help him handle the criticism (of playing college football)."

So far, he's handled every situation that's been thrown at him.

""He's been a great, positive leader for our school academically, athletically and spiritually. "He's been there for these kids." ."
-Gary Brown, Community Christian athletics director

CCS doesn't have a football team, so he commuted every afternoon to Class 5A Northglenn High School.

"In the fall, he's a Crusader by day and a Norseman by Friday night," said Brown.

He knew many of his teammates from years of youth and middle school football, but former Northglenn coach Vince Vieyra said his actions turned him into a leader.

"He's was kind of the true captain - he was the leader of the team. They looked to him for his leadership and he led by example. He didn't say a whole lot," said Vieyra, who coached Perkins throughout high school.

No matter where the coaches needed him on the field, he excelled with his combination of speed, size and strength. He started for three years at quarterback, defensive back, running back, punt returner and kick returner.

"Running the ball has always came naturally, but I was always being moved around to find the best situation," Perkins said.

On defense, he was named All-state at defensive back by The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News. On offense he finished as the second-leading rusher and fifth-leading passer in school history while being named two-time Front Range League offensive player of the year. This, while maintaining an outstanding GPA in the classroom.

Despite growing up a Buffaloes fan and Boulder's proximity to friends and family, Perkins wanted to visit other campuses to find the right fit for him. He took trips to Kansas State and Arizona State, but he didn't get as good a feeling as being in Boulder.

"Everybody's real great. (Coaches) They're always fired up. And the players are great, too," Perkins said.

With a bio-full of accolades and news of his impending signing with CU, where he is expected to play defensive back, he said he's gotten used to the long list of interview requests from newspapers and recruiting Web sites.

"He likes the notoriety of it, but he'd be OK if he just went about his business," said Brown.

His business has inspired those around him.

Brown said he's seen Northglenn High students come to watch Perkins man the small forward spot for the CCS basketball team. At the same time, students and administrators at CCS kind of adopted the Northglenn High School football team, attending local games.

"That's because of Anthony," Brown said. "Anthony has, due to his personality, drawn these kids together."

Anthony also attracted the staff of coach Dan Hawkins when he arrived in Boulder in December of 2005. Perkins said he had a scholarship offer in April and accepted in May. NCAA rules prohibit collegiate coaching staffs from talking about a recruit before signing day.

I just kind of decided that CU was the right place and that's where I wanted to be," he said.

Perkins isn't worried about Colorado's 2-10 record in Hawkins' first year.

"I like the way (Hawkins is) directing the program," Perkins said. "I think it's a great opportunity."

He said his mother was pretty happy he'd going to school in Boulder, too.

Vieyra said he's not surprised Perkins decided to stay close to home.

"He took his family in consideration - he's all about family and school," Vieyra said.

Committing early also eliminated a big distraction from studies, football and home life this fall. Blue chip prospects can be bombarded with phone calls, letters and comments on the street about where they should play.

After committing, Anthony said he'd occasionally get phone calls from other schools asking about his situation, but once he said he was solid with the Buffs, he wouldn't hear from them again. Mostly, he just heard from the Colorado coaches asking to see how things were going.

They would have gotten glowing reviews from those around him.

"He's been a great, positive leader for our school academically, athletically and spiritually," Brown said. "He's been there for these kids."

"We gained a lot by him coming to our school," Vieyra said.

By the numbers

Name: Anthony Perkins
Hometown: Northglenn
School: Community Christian
Height: 5-11
Weight: 180
Sports: Football and track at Northglenn High School, basketball at Community Christian

When asked about the best player he had gone against, Perkins mentioned former Horizon High School player Devon Knight, who was killed in a car accident last spring driving home from prom. The two had played against each other since youth football.

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Showing 1 of 1 comments

Submitted By: john Reynolds

posted on 1/19/2007 @ 11:28:15 AM

Rated Story

John, great story about a fine young man. Keep up the good work and stay plugged in to Flat Irons. John R. P.S. Maybe the last line should say "The two had gone against each other since youth football." Thanks again for the great story.

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John Eisel

Denver , COLORADO

John Eisel has posted 2865 stories and 12 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. John Eisel's average story rating is 4.39.

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