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Barrington player's mock highlight reel goes viral

​Jack Lenihan may not be destined for the NFL, but the backup wide receiver for the Barrington High School varsity football team might have a future in comedy.

A mock "recruiting" video Jack made highlighting his junior season - mostly showing him standing on the sidelines watching his teammates in action - went viral this week, earned him national attention and even a pair of college offers.

Jack created the video to entertain his teammates, but since he posted it Monday morning on Hudl.com, a video hosting site, it had received more than 800,000 views by Tuesday afternoon.

He said he got the idea to make the video after watching serious recruitment highlight reels that some of his friends on the football team were putting together.

"There were six plays of me playing in a game," Jack said. "Four of them were me missing blocks and one was of me dropping a pass, so I thought I would put in shots of me standing on the sideline to fill it out."

The clip of him dropping the pass made it into the final video, which is titled "The Lenihan Effect." It is the only play in the video showing Jack on the field. The rest of the clips show him highlighted by spot shadow watching the game in his No. 87 jersey while dramatic music plays.

Since it went online, Jack's video has been shared and reposted by media outlets across the country, including USA Today, Bleacher Report, Fox Sports, and even Men's Health magazine.

On Tuesday, Jack did a Skype interview with WGN Morning News and an on-air interview with a radio station in Portland, Oregon. He was interviewed by Men's Health Tuesday afternoon - after finishing first-semester finals - and had two more radio interviews scheduled Tuesday night.

"I had a really great time making the video," he said. "But it's basically been like the worst timing ever. We'll see how the grades come out."

The video ends with a tongue-in-cheek message that he will accept football scholarship offers from only Division I schools - the highest level at which college football is played.

To Jack's surprise, he's already received messages from the athletic departments of both the University of California-Berkeley and the University of Florida.

Lenihan, who says in the video he stands 5 feet 11 inches and weighs 145 pounds, said Cal-Berkley's offer was to serve as the football team's equipment manager. He said he wasn't sure what Florida was offering.

"Maybe I'm getting the starting job, who knows?" he said with a laugh.

Barrington High School senior Jack Lenihan is receiving national attention - and even a couple of college offers - after he posted a mock highlight video online Monday documenting his season on the sidelines as a backup wide receiver on the football team. Courtesy of Gaye Lenihan
Jack Lenihan, No. 87, greets his Barrington teammates from his spot on the bench during a game this fall. Courtesy of Gaye Lenihan
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