Ja'Marr Chase Reveals Moment He Knew NFL Stardom Was Possible

The Bengals top player is close to the league lead in receiving yards.

Russ Heltman | Oct 20, 2024

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) scores a touchdown on a reception in the fourth quarter of the NFL game at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. / Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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Cincinnati Bengals

CINCINNATI — Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase knew he'd be a star wide receiver long before arriving in the NFL. The team's top playmaker dove into his first time realizing a special talent.

"15-16 years old. So I was going on like my sophomore year high school, that's when I realized it," Chase said last Thursday.

Chase grew up in Louisiana and excelled amidst a competitive high school atmosphere. He got recruited to play at that level as a receiver, despite playing running back in middle school.

"What first made me realize it was when I was in middle school and I got recruited to go to high school to play football," Chase expanded further. "And the head coach of the team came straight to me after the championship game in middle school and said, 'I want you to play on my team. You should play receiver.' And my dad was right there, of course. But I just looked at my dad, and I was just speechless, like, you know, I didn't really know what to say. I didn't know what to think of it. And he just told me, 'Think about it.' And the whole time I didn't realize he was already plotting my friends to go to school. So, like, once my friends said, 'Yeah, let's go there. I'm all ready to go.' So it was just a cool opportunity for a coach to believe in me."

Chase clearly made the right choice with that position change as arguably the best receiver on earth.

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Published Oct 20, 2024

RUSS HELTMAN

Russ Heltman is a contributor for AllBearcats and AllBengals. He is the morning host and producer for 89.3 WMKV in Cincinnati, OH. Russ can be found on Twitter: @RussHeltman11 or you can reach him by email at Heltmandm@yahoo.com.