Black VoicesMistaken IdentityIdentity TheftCollege Football

When Dyslexia Blocked His Path To College Football, Maryland High School Player Took Unusual Route

Who is Jarryn Avery?
By 

Editorial Fellow, HuffPost

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BROOKLYN, MD November 12: Jarryn Avery graduated from North County High in 1994, a 6-5 offensive lineman with Division I ability, but because his dyslexia had been undiagnosed in high school. Thinking he was running out of chances, he took the advice of an older acquaintance and, with the older guy facilitating everything from a fake birth certificate to a driver's license, took on the identity of a classmate (with the classmate's permission) and wound up going to play at Kansas State as 'John Knott.'. Photographed at his Mother's home on November 12, 2014 in Brooklyn, MD. (Photo by Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Two years ago, Damion McIntosh received a message from a ghost. It came to his Facebook account, asking, “Do you know who this is?” McIntosh pondered the big, round face in the man’s pictures until slowly it dawned on him.

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