MCKEESPORT, Pennsylvania -- As the sun settled into a late afternoon golden hour that cast a blinding, yet photogenic glow on the small football stadium outside Pittsburgh, T.J. Watt emerged from the low-slung brick building.
About 200 yards in front of him was a group of high schoolers with red practice pinnies pulled over their shoulder pads, huddled in a semi-circle facing the building.
They didn’t know what -- or who -- they were waiting for, but as the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year lumbered closer, the whispers turned to frenzied shouts.