Raphael Delacour

Raphael Delacour

Delacour at the DSFL Workout Day
No. 15 – Prospect
Position:	Wide Receiver
Personal information
Born:	(2018-11-05)November 5, 2018 (aged 44) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:	Franklin (Reisterstown)
College:	Harvard
Career history
Roster status:	Active

Raphael Balinfainte Delacour (born November 5, 2018) is an American football wide receiver. He plays college football for Harvard University and has declared his intent to enter the professional ranks upon graduation.

Early years

Raphael was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Jasmine Delacour (née Carter) and her husband Antoine, a professional football player with the Baltimore Hawks of the National Simulation Football League. The family moved to nearby Reisterstown while Raphael was still an infant.

The youngest of three children, and the only son, Raphael grew up being compared to his older sisters. The eldest, Sophia, was an athletic standout, while Elaine was an academic standout. Raphael also tended toward sport, and at a young age developed the aim of surpassing his recently retired father, starting out with a focus on track athletics. His parents, however, insisted that Raphael achieve high grades in order to continue playing sport, requiring him to achieve a minimum 3.5 GPA (unweighted) at all times, or they would suspend him from all athletic activity.

While at Franklin Middle School, Raphael took up football, primarily operating as a return specialist for the Dragons due to his quickness. Citing his admiration of James Bishop and Errol Maddox – the latter of whom he had the privilege to work out with on a visit to The Aviary with his father one day – as well as his aim of surpassing his father, young Raphael focused on becoming a professional wide receiver, focusing heavily on his already formidable speed. However, he soon realised his relative lack of stature would be a limiting factor, and sought advice from his father -- similarly considered undersized throughout his career -- before adjusting his game to become a more cerebral, technique-based player.

In his sophomore year of high school, Raphael helped the Indians' junior varsity football team win a county championship. The following year, he moved up to varsity and made the slot receiver position his own, amassing over 1,000 yards in each of his two seasons at that level, as well as helping Franklin reach a state championship game in his senior year. The Indians would ultimately fall short, losing in overtime to Linganore.

Regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, Delacour was ranked as the number 15 wide receiver in the state of Maryland, and the No. 137 nationally by ESPN.com. Of particular note were Delacour's "good hands and crisp routes", according to one scout.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Raphael Delacour WR	Reisterstown, MD	Franklin	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	175 lb (79 kg)	Apr 28, 2036
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout:   Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN grade: 74
Overall recruiting rankings:   Rivals: 15 (MD-WR)  ESPN: 137 (WR)
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2036 Team Ranking". Rivals.com.

College career

Raphael won a place at Harvard to study film, after submitting his application in the form of a short movie. He opted to attend Harvard over athletic scholarship offers he received from LSU (his father's alma mater), Georgia Tech, and Notre Dame. At Harvard, he continued his athletic pursuits, earning a place on the football team as a freshman, though he featured very little.

College career statistics

Year	Team	Receiving						Kick Returns
		Rec	Yards	Avg	TD	Long	Ret	Yds	Avg	KR TD
2037	Harvard	5	68	13.6	0	37	17	315	18.5	0

Personal life

Raphael's father, Antoine, is an NSFL Hall of Famer. His oldest sister, Sophia, is a winger for Club Key West, in the Grassroots Soccer League. Raphael is closest to his other sister, Elaine, whose affinity for statistics helped him determine an optimal approach to football. The two also attended the same university.

His great-great-grandfather, Clinton Balinfainte, was a highly regarded musician from Jamaica, and something of an aspirational role model for Raphael in his middle school years. He has claimed since that this was a major factor in his decision to focus on the arts, rather than a more traditionally academic career path, as his parents would have preferred. He shared a close relationship with his great-grandmother, Lucille, before she passed away in his freshman year of high school, listening to her stories of Balinfainte (her father). Those stories would later form the basis of a short film he produced in his senior year.

Outside football

In his senior year of high school, Raphael interned at 187 Pictures – by then a subdivision of Flying Thunder Studios – where he had a hand in the production of two short films. One was his Harvard application (Rafaello), and the other, entitled An Étude in Ebony, was a brief look at the life and career of his great-great-grandfather Clinton Balinfainte. The latter was featured at the Maryland Film Festival in 2037, garnering praise from critics.