ridiculous,” football coach Danny Landberg says. “It’s got ridiculous celebrity names from the past.”

Landberg speaks with the perpetual hastiness of a man who’d love to chat but is running a minute late to catch his train, that uniquely charming New York dialect. He started coaching at Erasmus in 2001 at the end of a rough spell for the school and its athletics programs. Like much of Brooklyn, Erasmus fell on hard times in the 1980s and 1990s. The building fell into disrepair and the football team could barely find enough bodies to fill a starting lineup. Wins were even harder to find, but Landberg was local and young and figured he could build something positive at Erasmus with enough hard work.

A few years later, Landberg was at aBrooklyn youth football game when he met Roy Armstead and Armstead’s 7-year-old stepson, Curtis Samuel. His athleticism was apparent even at that young of an age. Landberg and Armstead became friends, and it was clear to both of them that Samuel's future with a football in his hands was bright.

Erasmus football was on the rise by the time Samuel matriculated there in 2010. City kids can apply to attend any public high school they choose and Samuel says “my mother wasn’t going to just send me to any school now.” He started for the Dutchmen as a sophomore and led them to a city championship in his senior season.

The photos of famous alumni on the walls of Erasmus Hall may not resonate with today's players, but Curtis Samuel