D.J. Shockley's legacy is patience and loyalty. He is remembered in his home state as the quarterback who backed up David Greene for three years, waiting his turn, and then leading Georgia to a 2005 SEC championship as a fifth-year senior.

Shockley's patience and loyalty were apparent before that, though. In high school, he became North Clayton's starting quarterback as a sophomore. His teams would never win a playoff game. They played in only one. Greener pastures were not an option. Shockley's head coach was his father, Donald.

But Shockley thrived as best he could. As a senior in 2000, Shockley threw for 1,861 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 864 yards. That doesn't sound like much, but it was accomplished in 10 games for an overmatched team that won its last four games just to finish 4-6. The 19 touchdowns were about 130 of the team's 156 points. He was the AJC's first-team all-state quarterback in Class AAAAA, the highest classification.

Shockley's abilities did not go unnoticed nationally, even before the era of 7-on-7 tournaments and national All-America games. If there had been an Elite 11 Finals in his day, Shockley would've been there. SuperPrep rated him the No. 4 overall prospect in the country, the No. 1 quarterback. He was Max Emfinger's No. 1-rated "athletic" quarterback, a term that preceded the "dual-threat" tag.

Shockley was the best player in the history of his current Region 4-AAAA school. Here are others.

*Druid Hills: Mike Brinkley (1985)

*Eastside: Justin Wray (2008)

*Henry County: Dalvin Tomlinson (2011)

*Luella: Rod Sweeting (2008)

*North Clayton: D.J. Shockley (2000)

*Salem: Torell Troup (2005)

*Woodward Academy: Julian Jenkins (2001)