A FEW DAYS after North Carolina wrapped its regular season, Chazz Surratt opted out of the Tar Heels' bowl game and headed to Florida to train for the 2021 NFL draft alongside his brother Sage Surratt, who'd already been living there. Both were on the precipice of fulfilling a dream. Chazz, 24, is among the top-ranked linebackers available and likely to be selected in the first few rounds. Sage, a big, physical 23-year-old receiver with good hands, has been pegged as a mid-to-late-round selection.
Training together was fitting. That's how they'd grown up in Lincolnton, North Carolina, tethered by age and ambition, on ballfields or basketball courts, even heading to national chess tournaments together.