The Indiana Hoosiers made their biggest splash in football recruiting history this past Friday when a wider receiver from Lawrence North High School not far from downtown Indy said he plans to spend “three or four years” in Bloomington. Monshun Sales made his announcement on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show not long after the clock struck noon. He apparently wants to be a Hoosier.

This is still a big deal, even in today’s weirdo college football landscape. The kid chose the Hoosiers over Alabama, Texas, Ohio State, and LSU. That had to hurt some folks all over again.

Admittedly, the receiver position is one that has made my head turn sideways for some time, thanks to the shenanigans of some of football history’s recent players who have been gifted at the position. Terrell Owens, Chad Johnson, Odell Beckam, and we could go on. We’ve seen some good receivers suck a great deal of promise out of more than one football huddle.

Will this happen to Indiana with this new kid from Lawrence North? Probably not. Look, he’s got to get to Indiana first. He has another season in high school and who knows what is going to change between here and fall camp 2027 on the college campus he finally lands on. Do I think it will be Indiana? Yes, yes, I do. Will it be the end of the world if Sales never makes it to Bloomington? Not at all. Indiana had a stable of great wideouts on the 2025 team that won the CFP Championship. One of them, Charlie Becker, is back on the team for the 2026 season. Two of them, Omar Cooper, Jr. and Elijah Sarratt were NFL draft choices. Translation: Indiana’s Coach Cignetti will put the best team he can assemble on the field. That is his MO. Everybody is wanting to do it. Coach Cig has done it.

You know the line from the movie Miracle when actor Kurt Russell portrayed Coach Herb Brooks who was putting together his roster of players for the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team. “I’m not looking for the best players. I’m looking for the best team.” That made such an impression on me. I’ll say it every time I can. While in college, I wrote a paper about the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team and interviewed Coach Brooks in doing so. It took forty-five years, but we finally have been able to see this dynamic work out in real time for what it is and may never be seen again. What Coach Cignetti did with Indiana was Miracle Part II.

So, when 2027 does actually roll around, Munshon Sales watch will be on again. I hope he makes it to Indiana eventually. If not, there will certainly be a good reason.

The best receiver I have ever seen with my two eyes is a guy named Isaac Curtis. We can thank Coach Don “Air” Coryell for everything we saw out of Isaac Curtis the All-Pro wide receiver. At Santa Ana High School, Curtis played running back and was a track star. He took his athletic prowess in both sports to Cal-Berkley still in track and was still running and returning on the gridiron. Curtis transferred to San Diego State in 1972; that is where the then head coach of the Aztecs, Coach Don Coryell, told Isaac Curtis to line up wide and “go long (and fast)”. Isaac Curtis was drafted by the Bengals in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft. Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson found his deep threat in a hurry. Nine TD passes to Curtis in 14 games as a rookie. 10 TD passes to Curtis in 14 games in 1974. Looooong TD passes. 77 yards. 77 yards. 54 yards. 85 yards. Isaac’s first 160 receptions went for 3167 yards his first four years in the league.

As I type these words, I can see across the Ohio River where old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati stood. I was fortunate enough to see Isaac Curtis catch a few of those balls from Ken Anderson back in the 1970s. I never enjoyed watching football more than I did when I was nine. Kenny to Isaac still plays out in my dreams.

One day in 1976 at Bengals Training Camp at Wilmington College, I saw Isaac Curtis reach down and catch a ball with one right hand that no man in any era, place, or time had any business holding onto at all. I have seen more football than I deserve. This shoestring one-handed catch of a ball that was what we used to call a “bullet” hanging only a scant few inches above the ground was amazing. Isaac Curtis. The best receiver I have ever seen play the game of football.