Fifteen-year-old Brysen Wright receives multiple college offers after amazing Patrick Mahomes

Brysen Wright’s rise is rewriting the script for teenage football phenoms. The 15-year-old freshman at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida, has already secured a five-figure NIL deal with Wild Card trading cards.  He’s caught the attention of NFL elite, including Kansas City Chiefs superstar Patrick Mahomes, has drawn praise from Pat McAfee, and is picking up early college scholarship offers, all off the back of a jaw-dropping viral catch.  The viral play occurred at the 2025 NFL Flag Football Championships in Canton, Ohio. While representing Jaguars Elite 14U, Wright soared above triple coverage, plucked the ball out of the air one-handed, and landed on his back for a touchdown.  The NFL’s official X account reposted the clip, which quickly amassed over five million views.

This is Brysen Wright, who will be a Top National recruit in the 2028 (!) Class

At 15 years old he already holds offers from LSU, Ohio State, Alabama, + more

Just made one of the CRAZIEST catches I’ve ever seen https://t.co/53SLgiUqZXpic.twitter.com/0N5sxQyjH3

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) July 19, 2025

Mahomes reacted with a succinct and stunned, “Yooo what?” accompanied by laughing emojis.  The athleticism didn’t stop there. Wright followed up his flag-football heroics with a one-handed interception in the same game, showcasing his playmaking skills on both sides of the ball. ESPN announcer Tom Hart applauded the feat:  “I’m not sure I have seen a better catch, period.”

His co-host, Jordan Rodgers, equally stunned, replied, “Tom, we have called a lot of games together. That is the best catch I have ever seen in person.”  That highlight has launched Wright into the upper echelon of high school recruits.  As a freshman, he posted 646 receiving yards and eight touchdowns playing alongside 5-star receiver Jaime Ffrench and 4-star QB Tramell Jones, and was rewarded with a 4-star rating by ON3, becoming the first in his class to earn that distinction.

Standing at 63.5 and weighing 210 pounds, he also runs a reported 4.5-second 40yard dash, measurements that scream “college-ready.”  Mid-June, he attended Ohio State’s campus camp, organized by Buckeyes coach Brian Hartline.  Though working through a minor groin issue, Wright impressed with crisp route-running and standout athleticism. “If you come to Ohio State, you know you’re gonna develop, and they can get you to the league,” he told reporters.  Hartline echoed that vibe, praising Wright’s readiness and demeanor, which felt like “my fourth or fifth time” working with the coach.

Early recruitment & big-name attention

Even before the viral moment, Wright was turning heads. His first college offer came at age 13 from Miami, leading to a growing list that includes LSU, Florida State, Auburn, Nebraska, Texas, Duke, North Carolina, Miami, Georgia, Alabama, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas A&M, South Carolina, and both Miami and FSU programs.  OSU remains a top priority, given its reputation for developing NFL-caliber receivers like Smith, Tate, and Inniss.

Wright’s NIL deal with Wild Card is particularly notable: an autograph partnership reportedly worth five figures, a sum equivalent to what a first-round NFL wide receiver nets per signature. It’s a signal that his marketability already rivals that of players years ahead of him.  Pat McAfee, WVU alum and national sports figure, couldn’t help but speculate on Wright’s future during a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show featuring Jaguars’ coach Liam Cohen.  Before Cohen could weigh in, McAfee declared, “The highlight of the weekend. This dude is gonna be a West Virginia Mountaineer, right?… This dude is Gonna be a West Virginia Mountaineer,” then teased Cohen about possibly recruiting Wright for Jacksonville.