This year’s Super Bowl participants will be decided this weekend as the Bengals and the Chiefs square off in the AFC Championship Game and the 49ers and Rams play for the NFC crown.
Cincinnati, Kansas City, Los Angeles and San Francisco have been able to make it this far into the postseason due in large part to quarterback play — although some 49ers fans would probably try to argue otherwise. Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes have put on a show in the AFC all season, while Matthew Stafford has excelled in his first season with the Rams.
San Francisco, meanwhile, continues to find ways to win with Jimmy Garoppolo under center.
All four of this year’s championship round quarterbacks had to go through the rigors of the recruiting process before they reached the NFL. Today, USA TODAY High School Sports takes a look at what Burrow, Garoppolo, Mahomes and Stafford were up to long before they were stars at the highest level.