In high school, Calvin Ridley was part of the Knights, the school’s football team. The young man was 19 by his senior year. As a result, he only played three games for his school, thanks to Florida’s age restriction rules which bans over 19 years nine months old athletes.
Regardless, his short high school career was enough to place him among the highest-rated players in the country. Calvin was a five-star recruit by 247Sports, Rivals, and ESPN named him the best receiver in the class of 2015.
Calvin Ridley received offers from several schools, but the Coconut Creek-born wide receiver committed to the University of Alabama. He signed at Alabama as the top wide receiver in the 2015 recruiting class and 12th-best player in any position, according to 247Sports.
It didn’t take long for Calvin to burst onto the scene, catching 89 passes for over 1,000 yards as a true freshman. But his numbers dropped in each of the next two seasons. He made 72 catches as a sophomore and 63 as a junior—and he never got over that 1,000-yard mark again.
In his first game after being redshirted in 2014, he recorded three receptions for 22 yards and scored the first touchdown of his collegiate career. At the end of the 2015 season, he led the SEC in receptions with 89 points. Ridley remained a strong force in 2016 and 2017, but in 2018, he announced that he would forego his senior year to join the 2018 NFL Draft.
