Is Darrius Heyward-Bey The Next Big Thing in Sports Marketing?

He could be, if you look at how the NFL is positioning our homeboy.

Here’s the Sun’s ongoing love affair with Darrius Heyward-Bey’s journey to the 2009 NFL Draft. It’s amazing how a tryout has changed the outlook of so many observers in and around the NFL.

Just a few months ago, Heyward-Bey was a quiet kid that Ralph Friedgen couldn’t get the ball to if his life depended on it.

In a few months, he might be the next face of Comcast Hi-Speed Internet.

Heyward-Bey is a great story that will likely bubble to the top of football fans’ radars as quickly as his draft stock.

But in a league where quarterbacks and linebackers are marketing gold, will he really be a wide receiver that can sell a product outside of the mid-Atlantic region? Larry Fitzgerald is great, Steve Smith is great and Calvin Johnson is great, but I don’t see them in any notbale national marketing campaigns.

So for as much as I, and a bunch of locals will be rooting for the guy, can he really breakthrough to be a smiling and trustworthy face playing in a sport where faces are covered by helmets?

We’ll soon see.

Share and Enjoy: