The chant is sometimes muffled by crowd noise, but Nashville Christian junior Jared Curtis usually still hears it.
Over-rated! Over-rated!
The 2026 five-star Georgia football commitment has learned to ignore negative attention during games. That’s life as a high-profile quarterback, he said.
Brentwood Academy quarterback George MacIntyre, a 2025 four-star quarterback committed to Tennessee, can relate.
“I think it’s a very unique situation, no one really knows unless you’re me or him,” MacIntyre said. “We’re very similar in that way. People don’t always know where we’re coming from. But it just comes with it, having notoriety and all that stuff.”
Curtis and MacIntyre are a grade apart. Their TSSAA football careers are crossing over one final time this autumn. If their current rankings hold, they will be the first Tennessee high school football quarterbacks to be ranked top-10 nationally in back-to-back graduating classes, according to the 247Sports Composite ranking system, which began in 1999.
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Curtis is the No. 1 Tennessee high school football player from the 2026 class, the No. 1 quarterback nationally and the No. 7 overall player, according to the 247Sports Composite. MacIntyre is the No. 1 player from Tennessee in the 2025 class, the No. 8 quarterback and No. 60 player overall; he has been ranked as high as the No. 2 quarterback nationally.
They are the last two members of what could be considered the golden era of Nashville area high school quarterbacks, which includes four 2023 QBs who are on Power 5 rosters: Pope John Paul II graduate Kenny Minchey (Notre Dame), Montgomery Bell Academy’s Marcel Reed (Texas A&M), Ravenwood’s Chris Parson (Mississippi State) and Lipscomb Academy’s Hank Brown. Reed and Brown both started last week.
“Obviously it’s cool,” Curtis said. “People ask, ‘Where are you from?’ And you go, ‘Nashville,’ and they go, ‘Oh yeah you, and who’s that other good quarterback from there?’ Well, I can name a couple good quarterbacks from Nashville now. It’s fun to say that.”
What Tennessee football commit George MacIntyre and Georgia commit Jared Curtis have in common
Curtis and MacIntyre share the same trainer, QB Country Nashville’s trainer Thomas Morris, who uses the word “blessed” a lot when talking about them.
“You could see glimpses of (their talent) when they were young,” said Morris, who also trained Minchey and Reed. “You knew if they kept developing and stay hungry, they could be something special. They have things you can’t coach and can’t teach.”
More:How Brentwood Academy QB, Tennessee recruit George MacIntyre handles expectations, failure
MacIntyre and Curtis also use the same sports marketing agency, QB Reps, to handle financial agreements as they navigate Tennessee high school football’s new Name, Image and Likeness landscape. The TSSAA amended its amateur rule in 2022 to allow NIL payments.
Curtis and MacIntyre both have multi-year endorsement deals with Leaf Trading Cards, as well as partnerships with Hattie B’s Hot Chicken and several other deals that QB Reps does not disclose, their agent Peter Webb said.
“They’ve handled it fantastically,” Webb said. “I think a lot of kids across the country get distracted with the new world (of NIL). But they’ve kind of let us handle the endorsement opportunities, kept focused with a great strategy of not doing a bunch of (appearances), being patient, and just trying to throw touchdown passes. They both look at it like, ‘Hey, I’m really lucky.’”
Curtis and MacIntyre have chatted about the pressures they face and keep in touch by phone.
“We just talk about life, stuff like that,” Curtis said. “We talk about stuff like (the “overrated” chants) and laugh about it. I don’t think it really bothers him, and it doesn’t really bother me anymore.”
More:Georgia football QB commit Jared Curtis still being pursued by South Carolina, USC’s Lincoln Riley
More:Why Jared Curtis, who now has Alabama football re-offer, is worthy No. 1 quarterback recruit
Curtis is 44-of-63 passing for 707 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions through three games for Nashville Christian (2-1). He also has 157 yards rushing and five TDs.
“I think in games, he runs around a lot and tries to get guys open downfield, which I can’t see because it’s not something you can work on in training,” MacIntyre said.
More:Why George MacIntyre (the Vanderbilt coach) would be smiling at grandson’s Tennessee future
MacIntyre is 68-of-101 passing for 924 yards and three TDs with two interceptions for Brentwood Academy (3-1).
“He has a really tight spin on the ball,” Curtis said. “His release is really good.”
Last offseason, Curtis briefly considered transferring to Baylor, one of Brentwood Academy’s Division II-AAA East Region rivals. Nashville fans would have had to travel to Baylor to see Curtis and MacIntyre match up on the same field.
Now, they can see one or the other most Friday nights. Nashville Christian coach Jeff Brothers, a former Brentwood Academy quarterback and teammate of MacIntyre’s dad, Matt, has noticed more casual fans at games. He assumes they want to see Curtis.
“These guys … they’re a few miles from each other,” Brothers said. “I think we will look back and say, ‘That was a special time for QBs in Nashville.’”
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Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.