Logan senior quarterback D.J. Nelson was named a Maxpreps.com second-team All-American after leading the Grizzlies to the Class 4A championship this year and putting up eye-popping offensive totals along the way.
The Nelsons stumbled upon the news by accident when his younger brother was surfing the web and discovered D.J. among the list. Nelson later received "official" word from coach Mike Favero that he had been selected. He is the only Utahn on the Maxpreps list this year.
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"I was definitely a little bit surprised," Nelson said. "There’s a lot of kids out there across the country who have done a lot of hard work, and it really is great to recognize those guys, not just me. Just being selected is an honor."
The Utah State commit piled up numbers this year with nearly 3,500 passing yards, more than 1,600 rushing yards and 73 total touchdowns — one of the most prolific seasons in state history. With Nelson at the helm, the Grizzlies went 14-0 on their quest for another state title, and Nelson provided a last-minute touchdown pass that gave the team a win over East.
Steven Spiewak, a national football analyst for Maxpreps.com who helped assemble the team, said Nelson stood out with his gaudy statistics despite playing in a lower profile state. Spiewak said the 5-foot-9, 165-pound quarterback may not have rested atop recruiting boards, but as a high school player, he was just about as good as it gets nationwide.
"A lot of All-American teams are just sort of a list of top prospects without paying attention to what kind of season they actually had," Spiewak said. "We find it kind of silly and backwards. It’s hard to be as productive as he was. How much better could he have been?"
On the team, Nelson is listed as an athlete, not a quarterback, but the future Aggie said he was unconcerned with the label.
"I know you have to be an athlete to play quarterback in our system," Nelson said. "You can’t just pass, you have to run too or it doesn’t work. You have to be an athlete."
Twitter: @kylegoon
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