This week I sat down for an exclusive and extensive Q&A session with Daron Bryden’s father Craig. Daron Bryden (Enfield,CT) is a young quarterback phenom that has recently been featured on ESPN, Yahoo Sports, Good Morning America, NBC, HDNet, Sports Illustrated and CBS and now Rsenreport.com
He is the first middle schooler along with Tyson Thorton to be featured and ranked on Rivals.com. The website describes Daron as a “pro-style quarterback.” He’s listed as 5 feet 2 and 105 pounds and a potential member of the high school class of 2021.
He’s already appeared on ESPN and “Kids Do the Darndest Things,” where he competed against NFL quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in an accuracy competition and he won the darn thing by the way. But is this all too soon? We’ve seen the pitfalls of this hype especially with football Jimmy Clausen, Todd Marinovich, David Sills (who enrolls at West Virginia next season) and the truth is still out on phenom Dylan Moses (LSU commit for 2017′).
“Phenom,” “prodigy” and “next Tom Brady” are just a few of the ways Daron has been described on various websites. Three years ago, one site ranked him as the top nine-year old quarterback in the country. Craig and his wife have done an amazing job with young Daron at handling all the pressures and media frenzy that has gone along with it all though and Daron continues to work hard every day and is still able to be a normal 12 year old (13 this month).
So, today I talk with his father Craig on handling the spotlight and maintaining the dream of being a NFL quarterback.
RSEN: How has Daron dealt with you and your wife being deaf?
Mr. Bryden: Daron is just a special kid. He doesn’t think of us any difference than other parents. He is very proud to have us in his life, he just loves to help us if needed. We do not ask him to help us, he just offers to help us because he really loves us and he tells us he always appreciate for what we have done for him since he was 6 years old. He doesn’t feel ashamed when he use sign language with us in public places like some other hearing kids may be ashamed to sign to their deaf parents in public places but not Daron. He doesn’t care what other people thinks of his parents being deaf. That really shows us he really loves us, we always have great time when we are together as a family. We are very lucky to have a son like Daron and being able to watch him throw touchdown passes is a plus! He just happens to be gifted at football.
RSEN: When did you know that Daron could really be an all time great elite level youth prospect?
Mr. Bryden: I would say about when he was 8 years old attending quarterback camps. Every camp he attended in the past coaches were always raving about my kid and they were saying that he is the future. They’ve told me that they have never see a kid like Daron (12 years old) with great footwork and mechanics. As he got older the coaches were still raving about Daron and he just keeps getting better and better every year.
RSEN: How has all of your family handled the media spotlight over the past year, especially this past month?
Mr. Bryden: My family finds this positive for my son. We are used to the spotlight, since Daron was 8 years old when he was on ESPN for his trick shots and competed and beating NFL QB Matt Hasselbeck when he was 10. Daron is just very humble and loves the game of football and his teammates. We have already heard from H.S and Prep football coaches already inviting Daron and my family to visit their schools, and coaches as well. A few prominent college coaches have already invited my son to their college camps over the last few years which is just the encouragement he needs to keep grinding.
RSEN: Daron has similar stories to Stefan Lefors (deaf parents) and David Sills (former youth phenom QB), have any of those stories helped you in a positive light?
Mr. Bryden: David Sills’s mother reached out to me few weeks ago giving me some advice with what she went through with David when David was young. It was great hearing from her, she gave me great advice and was looking out for my family and Daron.
RSEN: Who are some of the quarterbacks Daron looks up to in the NFL or in college football?
Mr. Bryden: He looks up to Big Ben and Tom Brady. Currently he looks up to and patterns his game after Marcus Mariota.
RSEN: People will say Daron will get burned out on football at a young but he is a great basketball player as well. Is there any other sports he plays besides those two and how important is it for him to focus on non-football activities ?
Mr. Bryden: No not at all, he wont get burned out because this is Daron’s dream and he works extremely hard at it, while maintaining good grades, being a great kid and big brother. My wife (Rita) and I will do whatever we can to help him reach his dream. Daron is very mature and beyond his years he also has been very humble both on and off the football field. He is a great kid and loves to help his younger brother, Jaxon and sister, Mikaela. He is just a special kid that just loves to help his family. He is a starting guard on his AAU basketball during spring season. He also loves to play xbox one online with his friends and hangs out with his friends just like any other pre-teen.
RSEN: What’s been the hardest part as a parent dealing with a 12 year old prodigy?
Mr. Bryden: When Daron was in media frenzy, my family and I were hearing a lot of negative comments especially on twitter about us pushing or forcing Daron. We had to laugh it off because that’s far from the truth. We are not pushing or forcing him because we are supporting his love and his dream like even parents support their kids dreams like artist, doctors, musician, astronaut. If Daron wanted to become an astronaut we would sent him to NASA and do space camps there so why cant we do the same for Daron to attend football camps or getting quarterback trainings? I just let them talk and say whatever they want and it does not affect us at all because they do not know Daron or my family. It just makes Daron to grind harder to prove them wrong and be a great role model for the young kids that are chasing a similar dream.
RSEN: Football camps and private instructors are more expensive than people think, how much do you and your wife spend on football camps?
Mr. Bryden: Late Spring and Summer are very busy time for him because of the camps he attends every year. He goes to a total of 2-4 weeks worth of training. I would say I spent about 1k-2k a year depending where and when the camps are. I would like to mention that Daron sees his QB Coach Madei Williams once a month in New Jersey for his QB workouts. Daron also sees his other coaches Joe Dickinson and former NFL QB Todd Krueger during summer.
RSEN: How big of a deal was it to friends and family when Rivals.com gave your son the first ever middle school profile ranting on the site?
Mr. Bryden: Daron was very exciting when he saw his profile on Rivals. A lot of my friends, family and his qb coaches are very proud of him. His hard work is paying off and we have been getting supportive comments all around on my Facebook page. It is great to see that we have a lot of positive people around us supporting Daron and my family. I would like to add that while I understand the position of some that the kids are too young, they aren’t done growing, they may not pan out; that is exactly why they call them prospects. Rivals is merely identify potential future talent, this is Daron’s dream and he works extremely hard at it while maintaining good grades and being a great kid and big brother, so my wife and I will do whatever we can to help him reach his dream. Daron is so great with the media and handling all of this so called “pressure”, he let’s his game do all of his talking.
RSEN: Only 0.8 % of high school players make it on a NFL roster and 1.8 % make it from college to NFL, but prodigies like this only come around once ever four years. What would you tell others parents to look out for raising a child prodigy? And what the most important thing for Daron to look forward to in the upcoming years of his young life?
Mr. Bryden: Daron is my kid and I love him with or without football: he just happens to be very good at it. He is chasing his dreams just like any other kid who has a dream. As a family, we continue to support him to achieve his dreams. God has a plan for everyone and for Daron, that plan may or may not be for him to play in the NFL or be a Div. 1 quarterback. If he is not playing professionally, he would love to be a football coach one day.
I would tell the parents if they are raising a child prodigy that they need to be strong and not worry what people are saying about them because if they are talking about them it means that they are doing a great job and they are going places the more they hate thats a just fuel to keep doing what they are doing. They just have to be there for their child and be strong for their child as always.
For more on all things football follow Donovan James on twitter @donjamessports and a special thanks to Mr. Craig Bryden father of Daron. Follow both on twitter @QuarterbackDad7 and @DaronQB.
