UCLA Offers Eighth Grade QB Lindell Stone Football Scholarship

It's never too early to start chasing your dreams.

At least that's the case for 15-year-old quarterback Lindell Stone, who was offered a scholarship by UCLA on Tuesday evening, according to Damon Sayles of ESPN Los Angeles.

Here's what the youngster had to say regarding the offer from the Bruins:

"I'm very grateful right now. We're really not focused on recruiting right now. We're more focused on getting on the field at high school and helping a team win a championship, but this is big. It's finally showing how hard I've worked."

The 6'2", 190-pound Texas native just finished up his eighth grade year at Dawson Middle School in Southlake, TX and already has his future set before stepping foot in high school, as he's slated to enter his first year of college in 2017.

According to Sayles, Stone is a pocket passer who has gained recognition through the Elite 11 regional competition in San Francisco where he turned heads, including that of former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst, Trent Dilfer.

You may think that it's not everyday that an athlete this young gets offered a scholarship way beyond his years, but Sayles makes note of a few special young athletes to also share the honor with Stone.

Fellow class of 2017 and California native Nathan Tilford has been offered a scholarship to USC while Dylan Moses, also class of 2017, has offers from Texas, LSU and Alabama, among others.

Stone's middle school (Southlake) has produced NFL quarterbacks in the past, including Greg McElroy of the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs' QB Chase Daniels (h/t Sayles)

Whether you agree with it or not, it's beginning to become common practice for college programs to pluck young talent from local schools before they hit the main stage. Obviously there's no way to tell how a prospect will develop or to predict injuries, but that seems to be a chance that collegiate programs are willing to take.

Let me leave you with this: 

An eighth grader already knows he'll be playing for a premier college football program four years from now. What are you doing with yourself?

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