Having just taken a wide receiver who made coming down with contested catches his calling card in college, USC's Ja'Kobi Lane, with their third-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, many pundits felt like the Baltimore Ravens selection of former University of Indiana standout, Elijah Sarratt, at No. 115 overall in the fourth round was a luxury.However, for the DMV (D.C.-Maryland-Virginia) native, who briefly called Charm City home as an adolescent, it felt most like fate because that is where he developed the humble, yet hungry underdog mentality that set him on the path to eventual prosperity."It's surreal," Sarratt said in a recent appearance on 'The Lounge' podcast. "It's one of those moments where you're like 'Yeah this was meant to be'. To end my high school career in Baltimore and then full circle come back around to it, I wouldn't change it for the world."Sarratt grew up in Stafford, Virginia, where he attended Colonial Forge High School, and even though he felt he was the best player in his area, he wasn't getting the recognition or attention from college programs that he felt he deserved. This prompted him to head up I-95 and transfer to the national powerhouse St. Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland, to finish his prep career."I was like 'why not go to the best, if not one of the best teams in the nation on the highest platform of high school football and be able to showcase my skills," Sarratt said."It was a great move for me. Just living on my own in high school, being away from mom and dad. You're sheltered naturally being under your parents so just going into the city and seeing things that you haven't seen before, being around things you haven't been around before grew me up as a man."Being there for that short, yet very instrumental time taught him the value of hard work and provided a constant reminder of where an unproductive life of wasted potential could ultimately lead."We (were) right next to the prison," Sarratt said. "I was in class before and you can see inmates just walking in the yard and stuff. Just seeing at that stuff, it grows you up for real."Having been a former temporary resident in the city, he knows how passionate and supportive of the Ravens the community is, and he is already feeling the love from them before he even suited up for his first game."I already know the fans love (their) Ravens so they're going to support you," Sarratt said. "I'm just excited to put head down and win some games for this squad."Developing and feeding off underdog mentalityIndiana's Elijah Sarratt (13) celebrates a touchdown catch during the Indiana versus Ohio State BIg Ten Championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesEven after joining one of the best programs in the country that has produced eight NFL players in the last decade, including him, Sarratt still wasn't getting the kind of attention and notoriety he had hoped for.Instead of college programs trying to recruit him, he had to be the one to reach out to try to convince them to offer him a scholarship with emails, letters and over 200 direct messages on social media with his game film and measurables."It's crazy, you would see (former Penn State head coach) James Franklin, walk in, all the head coaches walk in, and your roommates, they're four or five stars, they're getting all the offers and stuff,” Sarratt said. “(You’re) like, dang, I feel like I'm just as good, like I deserve it.”Some nights he'd stay up wondering why he kept getting overlooked and kept asking him self "Why there's no teams (that) want me?" Some college coaches cast further doubt about his odds of going Division I by telling him straight up that they don't think he's fast enough to compete on their teams. Their harsh assessments, or lack of acknowledgment altogether, made no sense to him, but instead of getting down on himself, he used their dismissive statements and disbelief as motivation.“I just went to the field and worked out (by) myself,” Sarratt said. “When things weren't going my way, when I was losing the offers, people weren't reaching out to me, it was just that same thing, just go to the field, go to work, so when I do get my foot in the door, I know I'm ready for the moment.” Despite his tenacious efforts to try to get himself recruited more heavily, Sarratt ended his high school career not knowing where he'd be playing at the next level. While he received some offers from some Division II programs, he knew he could compete at the highest level of the sport.“All I wanted was a response, man,” Sarratt said. “Even if you said, nah, we're full right now. Like at least have the courtesy to respond with. Nine times out of 10, they wouldn't respond.”At one point, the former zero-star recruit briefly questioned whether his dreams of playing college football would come to fruition at all.“Just talking to my parents, I’m like I don’t know what I’m going to do if this doesn't work out, football's me, man, that's what I do,” Sarratt said. “(There were) definitely some moments where I'm like, yeah, this may not work out, but I always, always believed myself. There was never no doubt (that) I'm not good enough to play on that level, because I always felt like I was.”Sarratt took his talents to Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania, where he recorded over 700 receiving yards and caught 13 touchdowns as a freshman. From there, he went to James Madison for the 2023 season and led the team with a career-high 82 catches and 1,191 receiving yards to go along with eight touchdowns. After that, he followed his head coach, Curt Cignetti, to Indiana and helped turn the Hoosiers into national champion-winners in just two seasons, the last of which saw him lead the nation with 15 touchdown catches.“Of course, (doubt) creeps in just because no one's responded to you, but I knew something was gonna shake,” Sarratt said. “I didn't want to go (Division II) and then St. Francis University finally came along, but there was a chance.”Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow