From five-stars to the Super Bowl: Expectations follow players

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ATLANTA - As five-star prospects back in their high school days, Los Angeles Rams defensive back Lamarcus Joyner and offensive tackle Kyle Murphy were viewed very differently by most recruiting observers.

Murphy, a hulking 6-foot-7, 275-pound offensive tackle, was seen as a virtual sure thing, bound for the NFL no matter which college he chose. Joyner on the other hand, a 5-foot-8, 166-pound defensive back, had to face constant questions about his size and if his game would translate to the next level.

As it turned out, both players ended up doing a pretty good job of validating their ranking during their college careers. Joyner helped lead Florida State to a national championship in 2013, and Murphy played all four years for Stanford and capped his career with a first-team All-Pac-12 season as a senior in 2015.

Now, as the two prep for the Super Bowl in Atlanta, both can look back at their lofty ranking and the advantages and pitfalls that came with it.

“It had its goods and its bads,” said Joyner, who chose the Seminoles over Notre Dame and Ohio State. “I think just being a young kid, it was great for me because it got me a lot of attention and I was able to get recruited and offers off of it. But I also think that you can get caught up in it and start to base who you are off of a ranking.”

Murphy, who is on the Rams' practice squad, said he didn’t feel any pressure from the lofty ranking that followed him to Stanford, even though at the time he was the first five-star the school had signed in a decade.

“There is some pressure to live up to the hype, but I’ve always had high expectations for myself, both in high school and college and now the NFL.” he said. “I’ve always seen myself being able to do certain things and work to get my goals. External opinions about me don’t motivate me one way or another.”

Murphy, who came into college with fellow five-stars Aziz Shittu and Andrus Peat, said the Stanford staff let him and his teammates know quickly that they could check their stars at the door.

“When we first got there they wanted to make sure we weren’t entitled, because the program was built on two-star and three-star guys,” he said. “They wanted us to have that blue-collar mindset. It was a good transition for some of us that had big heads and big egos going in there. They did a good job of making sure that we knew all that stuff didn’t mean anything once you got to college and you were going to have to work hard to earn your role.”

Both players said the biggest takeaway from their days as five-star recruits are the memories they experienced, with each playing in major high school all-star games and getting the unique benefits that come with national rankings recognition.

“It’s cool to get recognition like that, especially when you’re 16 or 17 years old,” Murphy said. “I played in the Army Game and that was a big deal. ... I got to experience a lot of things as a high school kid that others don’t. That’s something I’ll always remember.”