Former St Margaret’s Church of England Primary schoolboy Tom Wort, 20, told pupils his journey from Crawley to playing in front of an 85,000 crowd on a regular basis.
The Oaklahoma Sooners linebacker said: “It’s awesome to be back but crazy to see everything that I haven’t seen in years.
“It brings back a lot of great memories.
“The kids eyes all lit up when they saw me and were very excited.”
Tom would watch American football on the television with his dad from a young age and said that was where his passion grew from.
When he was 14 his dad’s job took him to America where he advanced in the game.
They lived in Rhode Island and Texas, before he was recruited by the college team Oklahoma Sooners.
Tom said: “It’s about aspirations and what you can become. Going to school and taking part in sport is a privilege.
“When something is a privilege you work much harder at it and you grasp every opportunity.
“It’s never too early to start to dream.”
Tom wants to finish university before hopefully being selected to play in the National Football League (NFL).
He said: “It would mean you get to walk out and play in front of 100,000 people. The support is fantastic and is the loudest thing you have ever heard.”
Tom was always interested in sport and stood out from the crowd from a young age.
Claudia Leicester, his St Margaret’s physical education teacher, said: “The last thing I said to him when he left the school was ‘remember me when you are famous’ and now he has returned!
“He was just exceptionally talented and I remember teaching him like it was yesterday.
“He just excelled at all sports and was incredibly hard working.”
After talking to the youngsters Tom taught them a few American football skills on the playground.