Senior Tyler Petite, Campolindo football’s start tight end who recently committed to play for Duke University, received an Under Armour All-American jersey at a ceremony on Tuesday at lunch time in the large gym. The jersey is Petite’s invitation to play in the Under Armour All-American all-star game with 96 other high school football players from across the country. The January 2 game will be broadcasted from Tropicana Field in Tampa, Florida on ESPN 2.
“It’s a pretty popular event in the football world, so I think there will be plenty of people watching. It’s one of those things that you see on sometimes and you think, wow this is a pretty cool event,” Petite said.
At the ceremony, presented by American Family Insurance, Under Armour, and ESPN, Petite received other complimentary apparel in addition to the game jersey. Petite’s parents, Head Football Coach Kevin Macy, Athletic Director Tom Renno, and Principal John Walker accompanied the Campolindo senior during the presentation. A representative of Under Armour delivered a prepared speech to the audience before handing off the microphone to Macy, who praised Petite’s character and skill.
“The big transition was that he came in as a quarterback, but we saw that his skills could go a lot further in another position, tight end. Of course I’m sure some people thought there was a risk involved there, so it’s great to see that after all that, he’s really blossomed into that position. Not just blossomed here at this school, but he’s blossomed nationwide in terms of the recognition and how many scouts were following him, in terms of the scholarship offers that he’s received,” Macy said after the ceremony.
Originally, Petite was notified of his selection through Twitter. “Basically, what happens is they have a panel of coaches and staff that go through film of players from all across the country, and they happened to come up upon mine. They liked what they saw, and they hit me up on Twitter. They asked if I’d be in any sort of all-American game, and I said I wasn’t, and they asked if I wanted to do it, and I said yes,” Petite said.
Like many other high school football players, Petite uses Hudl, a website where players can upload their highlight reels and footage from camps. “There’s this camp called the Rivals Camp, which is connected with this game, so I think I must’ve done pretty well at that camp to be on their radar,” Petite said. “From there, they looked me up on Hudl and watched my film, and decided to make me a part of [the event].”
From the 97 players on the Under Armour All-American all-star game roster, only 6 are form California. However, Petite does not know any of them, and has only talked to one player from New Jersey, over Twitter.
Before the game, which is on the last Friday of winter break, there will be 3 practices in Tampa. According to Petite, the practices may be televised.
“It’s a crazy atmosphere, so much different than anything I’ve ever done in my whole life. It’s such an honor, because you grow up watching these things on TV, and you think, ‘Wow, it’d be crazy if I could do these things too, and get to this point.’ And now I’m finally here and it’s almost surreal. It hasn’t really hit me yet,” Petite added.
Petite accredits much of his athletic and personal success to the support of friends and family, many of whom will be flying out to watch the game this January. “It’s just cool to be able to have all of them there, because without them I wouldn’t be here at all, and it’s just as much of a recognition for me as it is for them as well. They’ve been with me through the whole thing, and pushed me to be the best I can be,” Petite said.
His father Joe Petite added, “Grandma’s coming up from south Florida, so everybody will be there. A few people are still making plans, and [Under Armour] will fly Coach Macy out as well. I think he’ll make a vacation out of it.”
“I’m very proud of him. It’s something he’s worked hard for, and to get recognition for it, too. There’s a lot of kids here at Campo who work hard and do a lot of things but it’s kind of cool for him to get recognized for it. I think it’s fantastic,” Joe Petite added.
Athletic director Tom Renno said, “I think his character speaks to what we’re trying to do here at Campo, by producing good students and athletes. He’s a respectful kid, he works hard, he’s a great person to have around campus, and we’re just very proud of him.”
Petite’s teammates are honored to have an athlete they admire on the team. Wide reciever and senior Tiger Garcia said, “It’s pretty sweet. Having an Under Armour All-American on our team is the biggest advantage you could ever ask for, that being the biggest bowl game for any all star across the country. If you think about it, we’ve got one of the best players in the nation, so that gives us a huge advantage over anyone else.”
Garcia said, “[It’s been] quite the experience, playing with him at practice has really toughened us up, especially on defense. Because of his speed, he just dominates.”
Now that Petite is committed to Duke, he no longer has to stress about recruiting and can just focus on the fun part of football. Macy said, “At this point, everything is just frosting on the cake. [During the game week] they put on an incredible show there for the kids. It’s an incredible package they put on, for the week when the kids are back there, so it’ll be a thrill.”
“Everything for me is funded, then my family will get discounts at the hotel and everything. Then I get as many free tickets as I want. The fact that one of my friends would go down with me [JV Baldwin], and it’s so far away, the fact that they’d put money into going to support me at this event, it’s just awesome,” Petite said.
“He doesn’t know how neat it’s really going to be until he gets there, playing with the best kids in the nation, and everything that they do surrounding the event. It’s going to be quite a memory for him,” Macy added.
“And I think it’s going to be a great experience for him, because now he’s going to be playing against some of the best players in the country. It’ll be a good stepping stone for him to be prepared for college,” Joe Petite said.
“I don’t know if they’ll be able to make it [to the game], but the fact that my friends are here and at the presentation is more than enough. That’s all I can really ask for. I know they’ll be supporting me,” Petite said.
