In the whirlwind that has been former Corner Canyon High quarterback Jaxson Dart’s life over the past nine months or so, one of the biggest moments came Tuesday as he was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year for the 2020 season.
And as a result, the USC Trojans freshman has the top two picks from the 2021 NFL draft in his corner. Already there was fellow Corner Canyon alum and former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, who was taken second overall by the New York Jets. Then on Tuesday, Dart was presented the award in a surprise Zoom meeting by the top pick, former Clemson Tiger Trevor Lawrence now of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
While Dart spent the past few months at USC getting to know the campus and participating in spring ball, he was back at Corner Canyon on Tuesday, where head coach Eric Kjar told him he was going to be involved in something on Zoom for the Pac-12 Conference.
But soon, Lawrence showed up on the screen, with the Jaguars’ logo as a backdrop.
“I think right then I knew that it wasn’t for Pac-12 anymore and had to be something else,” Dart said later Tuesday.
Lawrence presented the award (Dart beat out Georgia quarterback Brock Vandagriff and California quarterback Malachi Nelson), and Dart’s family and a bunch of his Corner Canyon teammates congratulated him.
“Super shocking. I had no idea coming into this what was going on,” Dart said.
Lawrence explained to Dart that the award is meaningful because it recognizes excellence both on and off the field, and Dart’s name has now been added to a list of winners that includes the likes of Emmitt Smith, Peyton Manning and Kyler Murray, among other notables, not to mention legends in other sports.
“It still honestly doesn’t even feel real,” Dart said. “I look at the names and I just look at the things that those individuals have done for the sport that they play as well as all the different things that they’ve done for the community around them. It doesn’t really feel real yet. It’s going to take some time to sink in for sure. I’m still just in shock and can’t believe I’m in the same discussion and awards as those guys.
“It wouldn’t happen at all without the people I was surrounded by. I look back at all the times where I was in doubt of going to another training, spending another hour with my dad throwing the ball in the backyard and all those little moments like that. It’s just crazy how it all plays out to an award like this. I’m just extremely grateful.”
A relative unknown on the college football recruiting scene even as late as last August, Dart led the high-powered Chargers to the 6A state championship and along the way racked up a bunch of scholarship offers from Power Five programs.
He ultimately signed with USC and received a good deal of hype during spring ball as he is battling fellow true freshman Miller Moss alongside incumbent starting quarterback Kedon Slovis.
“I’ve always had faith in myself that if I just play the way that I should play that things will work out,” Dart said. “Just compete. Just compete my butt off. I’d be lying if I wasn’t saying I’m trying to win the (starting) job, but Kedon’s a great player and I have great competition there right now, so I’m just going to keep doing all the things that I can to put myself in the best situation so whenever my number’s called I can succeed.”
As Dart gets ready to officially cap his prep career with the national award and move to the next phase of his life, he asked Lawrence Tuesday for any advice he may have.
“Just be yourself,” Lawrence told him. “I think that’s been the biggest thing for me throughout the past few years, a constant reminder is just keep being yourself. You don’t have to do anything different. You don’t have to try to please everyone. You don’t have to meet everyone’s expectation. Just be self-motivated and self-driven and be yourself. That’s what people like. That’s what people want to be around.
“It doesn’t really feel real yet. It’s going to take some time to sink in for sure.” — Jaxson Dart
“That’s what I told Jaxson, is obviously you’ve had success and something’s working, so just keep working and just keep being yourself. That’s what I told him, but it’s hard. Everyone has their own journey and everyone has to kind of figure things out on their own, but I think that’s something that can be valuable no matter who you are, no matter what position you’re in and no matter what age.”
Dart took note.
“Some great advice that Trevor gave me was just really focus on just being yourself,” he said. “Don’t let the outside noise affect you from being who you are. Just stay grounded, so I’m just going to keep being myself, keep working hard and keep chasing after the dreams that I have.”