A first-team Academic All-American, Chandon Sullivan (B.A. ’17) is poised to become the next Panther playing in the NFL
A first-team Academic All-American, Chandon Sullivan (B.A. ’17) is poised to become the next Panther playing in the NFL.
CHANDON SULLIVAN (B.A. ’17) BREAKS CONVENTION AS FIERCELY as he breaks up passes on the field. The defensive back is proof there isn’t one defined path to greatness and that when you refuse to let a label have power, your potential can’t be capped.
As a high school football player, Sullivan garnered little attention in his town of Winder, Ga. When Sullivan explored college options in 2014, he was overlooked by every one of the 65 major college football programs in the nation. With offers from Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Harvard, he had a guaranteed place on a college football team but not one with the kind of gridiron glory he’d always imagined. He wouldn’t be on scouts’ radar as anything more than “just a guy,” the default label for 99 percent of college football players who lack NFL expectations.
Fortunately, Sullivan has never been into labels.
Sullivan signed with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles April 28 as a free agent after not being selected in the NFL Draft. In Philadelphia, he'll be reunited with former Georgia State Head Coach Trent Miles, who is an assistant coach with the Eagles.
As he reflects on his unconventional journey, he isn’t bitter about having been overlooked. He’s empowered.
When he graduated from Georgia State in December, he had built quite the resume. Sullivan had been a four-season starter and an All-Sun Belt Conference star for the Panthers, buttoning up his college career with a 3.84 grade point average (GPA) and a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He had also been a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, a National Football Foundation accolade given each year to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance. Along the way, his 40-yard dash time had improved, as had his vertical jump and ball skills.
NFL scouts started to sniff around, and suddenly, Sullivan found himself with an invitation to the prestigious Reese’s Senior Bowl all-star game. It was uncharted territory for Georgia State’s football program, which had never sent a player.
Sullivan had been scouted by Phil Savage, the Senior Bowl’s executive director, who had visited the Georgia State practice field to see another player in action. The coaches insisted that Savage look at Sullivan while he was at it.
Savage’s eyes had widened while watching Sullivan tackle typical cornerback drills of backpedaling and breaking on the football.
WHEN HE ARRIVED AT THE SENIOR BOWL IN MOBILE, ALA., Sullivan was surrounded by giants of the college game — powerhouse players from Alabama, Oklahoma, Michigan, Georgia — and 300 NFL scouts. The impressive crew would have intimidated most, but after the first practice, Sullivan scanned the room and said to himself, “I belong here.”
Throughout that week, Sullivan showed he could cover some of the best wide receivers in the country. Everyone wanted to talk to the guy who wasn’t “just a guy” anymore. Sullivan wowed scouts in his one-on-one meetings, even when their questions had nothing to do with football.
At Georgia State, Sullivan set a daily example for young players. Like clockwork, he would wake up at 6 a.m., have breakfast, study game film, stretch, go to practice and then class, and wrap up the day in study hall. Because of its demands, football is supposed to be an obstacle to academics, but Sullivan shattered that stereotype, too.
At the start of his freshman year, he proudly announced to Brad Horton, associate athletic director for student athlete development at Georgia State, that he intended to graduate in three and a half years and then prepare for the NFL draft.
“I said, ‘OK,’ but there are only two guys I have been around who could do that,” said Horton, “One was Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle at Florida State, who is currently completing medical school. The other was quarterback E.J. Manuel, who turned down a Rhodes Scholarship to pursue an NFL career.”
Now, Horton has no doubt Sullivan could have been a Rhodes Scholar.
“I see him entering that exchange program for NFL players at Harvard, where you take six weeks of intense study over the summer for a master’s degree,” he said. “Chandon really is elite.”
For Sullivan, there was nothing unpleasant about attending class or completing assignments with every ounce of effort. In his first semester at Georgia State, he made clear he didn’t need tutors or babysitters.
He never used football as an excuse for academics, though he didn’t need to, nor did he withdraw from or drop a single class. And his drive was infectious. Each position group on a football team has its own meeting room, and in Sullivan’s meeting room, filled with defensive backs, every player held a 3.0 GPA or greater. Horton attributed it to Sullivan’s influence.
NFL scouts have a phrase for prospects like him: “He has a clean background.” It’s another label, but this one is fitting.
When asked about being a high-achiever, Sullivan gives credit to his parents.
“It was how I was brought up,” he said. “I came in with a plan to stay consistent. That comes from my parents. I learned how to study to get things done in high school.”
As he sets his sights sky-high once again, looking toward a successful career in the NFL, Sullivan is fueled by that same determination.
“I want to be that diamond in the rough — the guy they didn’t see coming,” he said. “I know I have talent, and I know I can match up with receivers from big schools. I didn’t play Power 5 schools every week, but when I did play the Clemsons, the Wisconsins and Penn States of the world, those were some of my best games and performances.”
For Sullivan, there was nothing unpleasant about attending class or completing assignments with every ounce of effort. In his first semester at Georgia State, he made clear he didn’t need tutors or babysitters.
He never used football as an excuse for academics, though he didn’t need to, nor did he withdraw from or drop a single class. And his drive was infectious. Each position group on a football team has its own meeting room, and in Sullivan’s meeting room, filled with defensive backs, every player held a 3.0 GPA or greater. Horton attributed it to Sullivan’s influence.
NFL scouts have a phrase for prospects like him: “He has a clean background.” It’s another label, but this one is fitting.
When asked about being a high-achiever, Sullivan gives credit to his parents.
“It was how I was brought up,” he said. “I came in with a plan to stay consistent. That comes from my parents. I learned how to study to get things done in high school.”
As he sets his sights sky-high once again, looking toward a successful career in the NFL, Sullivan is fueled by that same determination.
“I know I have talent, and I know I can match up with receivers from big schools. I didn’t play Power 5 schools every week, but when I did play the Clemsons, the Wisconsins and Penn States of the world, those were some of my best games and performances.”