Hall County police Capt. Andre Niles saw his son challenge three offensive linemen at a time while playing nose guard for Georgia's Gainesville High.
He remembers two adults – including himself – having to wrestle his middle-school aged son off of an older bully who dumped a Slurpee on his head.
And he's watched his son, a preseason Outland Trophy watch list candidate, prove those who suggested he was too small to play at the FBS level wrong.
But Thomas Niles, a senior defensive end on the UCF football team, did something earlier this week that truly shocked his father: a lengthy interview with a reporter.