Yes, I did play baseball for 30 years of my life and spent seven years playing @MLB. Don’t get me wrong I loved baseball…
It just wasn’t my favorite. Here’s why:
Baseball was a close second to football.
I actually didn’t start playing organized football until my freshman year of high school. It took 3 stingers to my neck until I learned how to properly tackle. 🤣
The game confronted me quickly with what I loved so much about it…the physicality.
There’s only so much physicality you can get playing the game of baseball, and trust me, I tried to get the most I could.
I mean you don’t earn the nicknames “La Pinata” and “HBP King” for nothin’!
I guess getting hit by pitches, being part of minor league brawls, and running into walls was the closest thing I could get to that physicality, so that’s what I did.
Unfortunately, they ruled against running over catchers while I was playing, otherwise I’d have made that part of my game too.
For the majority of my high school career, I was set on playing football in college. I had dreams of playing D1 football and then becoming the next Mike Alstott.
Being a running back myself, I always admired his hard-nosed style of play, and wanted to follow in his footsteps.
My football dreams were also fueled by the fact I was a very average baseball player my first 3 years in high school.
I hit a whopping .270 my junior year.
But I continued to put the work in, started to take my mental game seriously, went off at a summer showcase and started getting real looks.
Any high schoolers out there who may not have had a great start to their careers, I hope you can use this as fuel to know that it is never too late.
I also cannot emphasize enough the importance to play multiple sports. You will become more athletic and most importantly you won’t burnout from just specializing in one.
Although my football career ended after high school, it’s safe to say those days were the most fun I had playing any sport.
A federal court clerk in the Western District of Virginia said it is her understanding a civil suit against the @NCAA will be filed there tomorrow. #JMU#CFP#GameDay