Mercer Thatcher '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Mercer Thatcher… a student athlete at Derby High School in Derby, Kansas. In the classroom, I pride myself with being a hard working student with a 4.2 GPA.  On the football field, I have been blessed to be a 3-time 6A State Champion as a member of the Derby Panther Football team.  Our program has grown a winning tradition where we have won State the last 6 out of 8 years, and I feel that being a part of this team is great learning experience for me.

My main position is QB where I have started on all teams through Junior Football, Middle School and the first 2 years of High School.  This past season as a Junior, I was the backup to our senior QB who just graduated and is going to a Division 1 school.  The team was short of Wide Receivers, so I was asked to switch to WR, and even though I had not played the position before, I became one of the top receiver options for our team.  Not only did I have to learn how to run routes effectively, but Derby asks a lot of the receivers to be able to block downfield to help our dominant running game.  For my senior season, I will be going back to the QB position with the chance to win our 4th straight State Title with my 2022 class!

Since I was in preschool, I have played different sports all year around and have always liked learning the different skills and positions that each sport has.  I think that has helped me now to be more versatile because I have been asked to move from my main position in football like I mentioned, but in baseball too, where I am starting for Derby Baseball in the outfield after mostly playing 3B up to now.  That versatility has gotten me more time on the field over the years and has helped me have a better IQ of whatever sport I’m playing.  I’m also proud to say that I have played for the same summer baseball team since I was 4 years old, playing with the same group of guys for years.  This past summer, we had a very good summer going undefeated in most tournament weekends and won a State Championship to cap it off!

As a student, I have always worked to be at the top of my class with both my grades and leadership.  I have been active in Student Council and National Honor Society while taking advanced level classes.  Outside of school, I am active in my community volunteering as a member of our church Praise Band and helping out with our football program’s community service projects.  It's pretty cool when we all get together and help out an older person who can’t always help themselves!

I feel that my work ethic to achieve everything that I have so far is something valuable to any college program.  I believe that my size, speed and experience is comparable to anyone looking to play at the next level and I would love the chance to get to talk to you more about what you have to offer.