Khairi Fortt has made his college choice, and on Monday he will make it public.
Fortt, the Stamford High School linebacker who is considered the No. 2 prospect in the country at his position, plans to make his announcement when he is honored at an assembly at the school at 1:15 as part of the 2009 U.S. Army All-American Bowl Selection Tour, when he will be officially selected to play in and awarded his jersey for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Fortt, who has over 30 scholarship offers, narrowed his final list down to six in August, and then to Penn State, Georgia and North Carolina. Fortt made an official visit to Georgia two weeks ago during its game with South Carolina. He made unofficial visits over the summer to North Carolina and Penn State, a school he has been to many times over the years. He met with coach Joe Paterno while at a combine in July.
The All-American Bowl, which will be broadcast by NBC, will be held on January 9 at noon from the Alamodome.
Fortt had planned on using Monday’s ceremony to make his disclosure, but just finalized the plans.
Fortt is equally anxious for Friday night, when he is expected to make his return to the field at Brien McMahon. Fortt sprained his ACL in the first half of a loss to Ridgefield, sat out the remainder of that contest, as well as last weekend’s game with Greeenwich.
I EXPECT THE ATHLETES THAT REPRESENT MY STATE TO PUT FORTH A POSITIVE WORK ETHIC AND DELIVER ON THEIR FIELD OF PLAY. A YOUNG MAN WHO REFUSES TO PLAY DUE TO THE FACT HE IS A TARGET IS AN ASSENINE EXCUSE IN MY EYES. IM SURE THE YOUNG MAN IS A PLEASURE TO BE AROUND, BUT ONCE YOU START TO BELIEVE YOUR OWN HYPE IT CREATES TENSION AND PROBLEMS, AND NOW YOU ARE NO LONGER A PLAYER YOUR AN ICON OR A STAR. HE HAS PROVEN NOTHING TO THIS POINT TO BE EITHER.
Kleve,
It is just amazing the hating that has been written in this blog about a 17 year old kid. Get a grip and get over it. It aint that serious. Even if everyting you have said is so…what in your world is changing because of it?
Kleve — Get a grip…If Stamford High had 100 Khari’s, the school and the town would be a better place…..I don’t agree with all the publicity he’s gotten, but that’s not his fault.
I HOPE KHARI DOESNT PLAY ANOTHER GAME ALL YEAR SO HE CAN BE WELL RESTED TO NEVER PLAY AT PENN STATE. MAYBE HE WILL BE A TARGET THERE TOO. WHAT MAKES HIM A GREAT ROLE MODEL AGAIN? HE HAS BIG MUSCLES? HE IS A SNIDE, SELF CENTERED, STUCK UP KID, AND FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT ROLE MODEL, NONE OF HIS OWN TEAMATES SHOWED UP TO HIS INDUCTION TO THE ALL AMERICAN GAME PEP RALLY. IT WAS ALL THE SEVENTH GRADE GYM CLASSES AND KHARI. CONGRATS BRO, I BET JOE PATERNO THROWS YOU OFF HIS TEMA ONCE YOU TELL HIM YOUR A TARGET.
Khairi Fortt is a great football player, great student and wonderful role model for kids in this community. Khairi, unfortunately there are many mean and jealous peope in this world. We know this is only preparation for the awesome college and Pro career that’s ahead of you. Good Luck at Penn State!
Well thats your own opinion on a 17rs old kid who has only played linebacker from the middle of sophmore year. The kid is a great athlete. Sure he needs some tune ups but he is a baller. He takes on more blocks than probably any player in the state. In surely enough, if you’d observe, schools like Florida,VA, & Auburn were at his games last year. If 34 schools who have obviously seen game film/highlight tape, offer this kid, then I think there’s something wrong with your so-to-speak ” Professional Assessment” on Fortt. Who are you to say that he doesn’t break his neck getting ready for his season. He is 6’3 227 lbs of muscle, I think he deserves alot. Remember, he did just turn 17 6 months ago. Colleges definitely see alot of value and future success with this kid.
I wish Khairi the best, but this media circus doesn’t help his cause. Football legend is made on the field, not in the papers. I saw him play several times last year and he is a physical specimen – I’ll agree and he may fit the size and speed metrics for D1 prospects, but he in now way dominated any meaningful game that I saw. His story is best left to Scout.com and the other college internet scouting sites. Until he plays in high school again and leaves his mark on the field, the local sports news outlets would be better serving the readership by focusing on actual gametime results and the kids that break their back every week pursuing the dream.
I am very proud of Khairi the athlete, the student, and the human being. Prophet, for all of your “sources” or hearsay, why hide behind your screen name. Air out your grievances and name your sources, but don’t hide behind anonymity. What you say is slanderous and makes me wonder what you hope to gain by insulting a 17 year old student. You are not his doctor, nor his family friend. This blog allows you to state your opinions but choose your words wisely. Remember that lies compound over time. You speak as if you know his family and their intentions. Limit your comments to things you are sure of. Have you ever stopped to wonder why the “kids he plays with” (your sources) might be telling you information that even his doctor disagrees with? I cannot believe you are this dedicated a high school football fan when your comments are nothing but negative. If your criticism is not constructive, what is the point?
i want the kid to play, i just think he is getting alot of hype that is undeserved. all i know is this, when you watch a high school football game you should be able to tell in the first 10 minutes of the game who the D-1 athletes are. fortt may be a D-1 athlete but he is not the number 2 LB in the country and he refuses to play offense, so it shows me he is not a team player. i played D-1 college football and he does not stand out to me as a guy that is elite yet. john sullivan was elite in high school. as soon as a game started you knew who he was. fortt gets lost in games and that is not D-1 allstar material to me. i want him to do well. saying that i also want to let it be known that he is stamfords best running back also, but he wont play running back becuase he feels people would be gunning for him. all i am saying is that the kid needs to play for him to be deserving of all of the hype his father created. i want him to do well for kevin jones because i want him to actually wins some games, they cant do that if khari wont play because he is afraid people are targeting him.
hey prophet, why are you hating on Khairi so much? Is it because your still in high school but your acting as a parent and you are clearly not as good as Khairi? Or is it because when you were in high school you definatly were not as good as him and did not have half of the opportunities as he does and your very jealous? Either way you are ragging on a 17 year old kid…GROW UP cheif. Let the kid play.
Well said Dave. Let the Doctors and the experts decide when he can play.
i defer to the kids that play football with him that talk. the bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with khari. now there is suddenly talk of a partial tear on the patella and he now is 50-50 i dont think so i doesnt work like that. as soon as there is any type of partial tear he is out indefinetly so dont feed me that. i am sure he is a great kid. i just think that his father is feeding his head to much and not letting him be a kid. at what point do you let your child make there own decisions. if guy thinks khari is going to go to penn state and he is gonna tell the coaches there when and when not his son is going to play he will not be playing very long. i hope khari does well but his father will hold him back. he has his own son afraid to play now. and now they are making up stories so the kid doesnt look bad. he is fine. and if he does come back to play i bet he doesnt play any offense. he is all about himself because of his dad and is no longer a team player. and just to let it be said i was down in florida last week on business and stopped by south dade high school because my friend coaches there, and they have 3 LBs better then fortt. alot of hype and now he cant even back it up poor kid.
If Khari has a tear or any other cartilage problems he should not in any way go back on the field. We are talking about the kids health for the rest of his life. In my previous post I was just curious if he had ever played a game for STamford other than the Ridgefield game. Wasn’t he injured the past couple of years ?
I updated my blog earlier, he also has a small tear in his cartilage. That is what is holding him up right now. Everything else is healed. I was at practice today.
Here is my policy, I will never knock anyone when it comes to injuries. Everyone thinks they are amateur doctors. You never know what a person is feeling, what their threshold for pain is. It is very easy to armchair quarterback when you are dealing with someone else’s health. I defer to the doctors and experts.
Saw on Ch 12 that it’s a sprained/strained ACL.
Why would you want the boy to play with that? Would you let your kid..with a whole huge future in front of him or her to play with an injured ACL? I sure wouldn’t. Even if my child was never going to walk onto a field or court again after high school I wouldn’t want them out there until 100% healthy when the ACL is involved.
Sounds like a lot of jealous armchair quarterbacks that don’t have teenagers that compete on any level & YOU never played any serious sports either. The season is young.
I rarely jump into the comments on my blog, but I am going to do it this time just to express an opinion. Whatever your feelings are of Khairi as a player, I don’t understand why someone would want to see him fail. Why, so someone can say “I told you so.”
All I can tell you is Khairi is a good person — I think very highly of him — and if he does well at the next level it is good for Stamford and football both in the FCIAC and the state.
Everyone complains that Connecticut football gets a lack of respect. How is the state’s reputation aided by the failure of a top recruit?
It amazes me that some people get so excited at the chance to jump on a high school kid.
Fortt is a great player, he put up ridiculous numbers on the field last year, as well as in combines during the off-season, and will be a good player for whatever school he chooses.
GoodLuck in College Fortt and I am sure at that level you will still play very well. I hope your father (Guy) gives you permission to play soon.
Interesting that he was in no hurry to get back in the Ridgefield game or even set foot on the field when the played Greenwich but is probable to play against a struggling Mcmahon team. Something tells me if Stamford was going to face NC or Staples this weekend his bruised knee would yet to be magically healed.
very well said prophet..your right on target
wow…thats great. we all know fortt is going to penn state. the real question remains “will fortt ever play high school football ever again?” my guess is probably not. its great that he is such a great athlete, but sadley for him football is played in pads not shorts and a tshirt at a combine, so he needs to prove himself on the field and help his team. what is wrong with him anyway, does anyone know? from what i heard there is nothing wrong with him and he is just afraid to go back out and play. well it says alot about his character that he would leave his team hanging out to dry to better his own future. hey Penn State you guys may want to reconsider what kind of “team player” you want on your team. because i would not want to be his teamate and thats for sure.
What exactly has Fortt done for Stamford over the past two years.