REELING WITH TALENT: Local lads in limelight for Friday Night Football

Montrell Estell poses for a portrait Thursday, July 7, 2016 at a family friend's house. Estell says that patience is important in both fishing and football. "You've got to wait for the play to start in football and in fishing you have to wait for the right fish to go by."
Montrell Estell poses for a portrait Thursday, July 7, 2016 at a family friend's house. Estell says that patience is important in both fishing and football. "You've got to wait for the play to start in football and in fishing you have to wait for the right fish to go by."

HOOKS, Texas-If Montrell Estell doesn't wind up playing professional football, he might just turn pro in a bass boat.

Or do any of a dozen other things.

Such is life when you're a superb football player, a solid student, a great kid, and the world lays unlimited options at your feet.

Proof positive that relief to a blistering summer is not that far away, football preview magazines are hitting the stands this week. One, FNF, Friday Night Football, has a cover theme of "Small Towns, Big Talent," which includes Hooks' star receiver/defensive back, who has already committed to play for Texas.

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Pool Denver Post

Aurora theater shooting suspect James Holmes in court in Centennial, Colo., on Tuesday, June 4, 2013. Holmes was allowed to change his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity. (AP Photo/The Denver Post, Andy Cross, Pool)

Not on the cover, but featured prominently inside the magazine is another Texas commit, Liberty-Eylau defensive end Lagaryonn Carson, which the magazine ranks as the No. 6 senior in the state. Estell is No. 51 on the list of top 100. Both are being recruited by a number of schools, but appear firm in their verbal commitments to Charlie Strong and the Texas Longhorns.

"There were a lot of schools, but most of them went away when I committed to Texas," Estell said. "Alabama hasn't given up. They say I'll change my mind when I visit, but I don't know about that."

"Coach (Jeff) Traylor did a good job recruiting him," said Hooks football coach Chris Birdwell. "He told him everything. Not just the parts he wanted to hear, but everything that would be expected of him."

As a junior, Estell had 1,400 yards and 12 TDs as a receiver. On the other side of the ball, he picked off nine passes, returning three for scores.

College coaches prize the youngster because he has that star quality, the ability to make big plays out of small ones, and because he has the physical attributes they covet-both size and speed.

Last year, he was timed at 4.39 seconds in the 40-yard dash. That's NFL speed. At 6-foot-2, 185 lbs. he's actually tall for a defensive back, even a safety, which is where Estell thinks he'll wind up.

"There are some tall safeties, but there aren't a lot of tall, fast safeties," he said with a quiet confidence that percolates through almost everything the teenager says.

Estell is blessed with a build, however, that may let him develop into something else, sort of like Jevon Kearse, who arrived at Florida as a 6-foot-4, 215 lb. strong safety and left as an All-America, 265-lb. tight end who could still run a 4.33 40, earning him the nickname, "the freak."

"Montrell runs so well. He's fast, but has the type of frame that will let him put on some weight and still be fast," said Chris Birdwell, Hooks' head coach.

Like Kearse, who graduated from the University of Florida with a 3.6 GPA, Estell is also a solid B-plus student.

"It kind of works like that," said Birdwell, who still has a reputation as one of the best students to go through Hooks. "If they're willing to work hard in the fieldhouse and out on the field, they're willing to work hard in the classroom. They have that work ethic, plus they understand the academic side of recruiting."

Nor would his parents, Raydell and Christen Estell, have it any other way. They keep a close eye on all four of their talented children. That includes Malik, an undersized senior running back/linebacker who also figures to earn a scholarship before all the dust settles.

A year ago, Montrell Estell was a just another boy in a small Texas town, getting ready for another football season. He still is, but now the world has beaten a path to his door. His coach said all that attention didn't go to his head.

"I think it really helped him," Birdwell said. "He's starting to realize what he is really capable of and what he could do. It's actually made it easier to coach him, not that that was a problem before. He's a really great kid."

For inspiration, Montrell said he turns to his Spanish teacher, Sean Smiley, who serves as motivator, mentor, role model and academic coach for many students.

"Mr. Smiley does a great job with the kids," Birdwell said. "He takes them on trips. He works with them. He does the ACT prep."

Christen Estell said she hopes to see her son, an avid outdoorsman who has won some bass fishing tournaments, find a profession that fits his love for animals-veterinary science, or perhaps a game warden.

Or a professional bass fisherman, said Montrell.

"I love fishing," he said in a voice guaranteed not to scare away the fish; though, if they knew what was good for them, it would.

"If he's not playing ball, he's fishing," said his coach. "That's a good hobby to have."

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