Brandon Lawton
It might be hard to determine the most athletic player on the MacArthur football team, but when it comes to the smartest, one name stands out -- Brandon Lawton.
"If you asked our team in a meeting who's the smartest one, they'd all say Brandon Lawton all at the same time," Mac coach Brett Manning said. "There's no secret he's probably the smartest person in our facility."
There is no doubt the senior left guard has accomplished a lot throughout his academic career. A 4.0 student, Lawton is no stranger to pushing himself in the classroom.
In addition to taking AP calculus and anatomy at school, he is also enrolled in concurrent classes at Cameron University.
Lawton has excelled in so many classes at Mac, he said it was difficult deciding what to enroll in for his final year.
"I've basically run out of sciences to take here," Lawton said. "I already took AP biology, AP physics and AP chemistry, so anatomy was the last science I could take. Last year, I took (composition) 1 and 2 at Cameron, so I have no English to take this year -- I'm taking psychology instead.
"I have no math left, and I (tested) out of college algebra already. I also have all of my history stuff done."
If that's not enough, Lawton made an impressive score of 34 on the ACT. The highest someone can make on that standardized test is a 36.
Of course, Lawton plans to put his brain to good use once he graduates high school this spring.
He plans to get in a medical program, though he doesn't know where yet. He has, however, narrowed his choices to the University of Oklahoma, Baylor and Rice.
Lawton hasn't had a chance to take on any internships thanks to his busy schedule, but he does take advantage of opportunities provided by his family.
"My mom is a nurse, so I go in (the hospital) and watch some open-heart surgeries and foot surgeries to check out what I like and what I don't," Lawton said. "I like to see what it's all about."
Lawton said he has always taken his academics seriously, but he admits he used to be a bit rambunctious as a child.
"Until 3rd grade, I was always that kid who ran around the classroom and did what I wanted," Lawton said. "My parents always told the teachers to give me something to do because I was bored because I'd finish all of my work so fast. So they'd just give me extra work or I'd go read books. I'd read as many books as I could when I was little."
Although Lawton keeps himself busy with school and sports, he still tries to find ways to wind down after a long day, including playing video games.
One of his favorite games is Madden, but even he admits his intellectual abilities can't find a way to best his teammates' skills.
"I'm the worst at it," Lawton said. "I've never been able to figure out how to get good at it. Whenever we play tournaments, I'm always the first one out and I get to be the commentator."
Lawton is also involved in the leadership class at school, and he's a member of the National Honor Society.
Fandom wise, Lawton identifies as an OU football fan. He said he was excited following the Sooners' big win over Ohio State on Saturday.
"I was really glad they won," Lawton said. "I was worried about (my teams) losing two big games in a row. I wasn't even paying attention in the first half, but when I came back downstairs to check the score, I saw they were beating them by two touchdowns, so I had to watch the rest of the game."