Before Julio Jones was a top-10 pick and five-time Pro Bowler, he was an 11-year old playing with his brother in the backyard, dreaming of playing professional football. But the first step was to get recruited to play college football. How did an athlete from Foley, Alabama, a town with 15,000 people make it to the big time?

That process, like with most youth athletes these days, started the moment that Jones stepped onto the football field in his local city league the following year. From that first season Jones exhibited all of the qualities that his high school coaches, recruiters, college coaches, pro scouts and eventually head coaches and Matt Ryan find so appealing about the superstar.