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Extra innings
Dunn passes on football, commits to baseball
Expectations were high for Reds outfielder Adam Dunn
coming into the season. After all, last year he hit .334 with 32 homers and
84 RBI in 94 minor league games. Then he came up to the majors and hit 19 more
in 66 games. His 12 homers last August set an NL rookie record, eclipsing the
mark Hall of Famer Frank Robinson set with the Reds in August 1956.
After starting slowly, Dunn has gotten hot again, batting
.274 with eight homers and 28 RBI through Monday.
The crazy thing is, Dunn could still be in college,
playing football. The Texas Longhorns signed the Houston native to play quarterback
in 1998, the same year the Reds signed him to a four-year, $800,000 deal. He
would have been a redshirt senior this fall, but he gave up the game in 1999
because, he says, he didn't want to be part of a two-quarterback system.
The Longhorns' loss is the Reds' gain. Baseball Weekly's
Chris Colston recently sat down with Dunn to talk about what is — and what
could have been.
Baseball Weekly: Some recruiting experts ranked you
as high as the third-best quarterback prospect in the country coming out of
high school. What was it like, being recruited to play big-time college football?
Adam Dunn: The recruiting process wasn't too crazy
because I went with my family on most of my visits. So I couldn't get too wild,
you know. But I had a great time. That's something everybody should experience,
going on one of those recruiting trips.
BW: Where did you go?
AD: I went to Notre Dame, Texas and Texas A&M. When
I committed to Texas, I didn't take the rest of my visits, like an idiot.
BW: Who was your No. 2 choice?
AD: Probably Tennessee.
BW: Even though you didn't visit Knoxville?
AD: That was one of the trips I was supposed to
take but didn't after I committed to Texas.
BW: So you were just ready for the recruiting process
to be over with?
AD: Oh, man. (Coaches) call you all the time at
all hours of the night. It just got annoying. Yeah, it was brutal.
BW: So why Texas?
AD: Anybody from Texas, it's either A&M or Texas.
I always grew up liking the Longhorns, and when they brought in (head coach)
Mack Brown, I thought it was a perfect fit. But things didn't work out.
BW: But that had to be pretty cool, being in college
and having $800,000 in the bank.
AD: I had the best of both worlds, man. I had money,
and I was in college. We had a lot of fun. I'd load up all my buddies and we'd
go to a bar and I'd keep my tab open. I knew they didn't have any money.
BW: You redshirted your freshman year, but when starter
Richard Walton got hurt, you were the No. 2 quarterback behind Major Applewhite.
What was going through your mind?
AD: I wasn't nervous; I just didn't know the offense.
I think that's what held me back. But I was young, and that's some complicated
stuff.
BW: You moved to tight end for a little while.
AD: That was something I was willing to try. But
then it was like, 'not happening.'
BW: You would've been a pretty big target for the quarterback.
AD: Yeah. For those linebackers, too.
BW: Was that part of the reason you quit football to
pursue baseball?
AD: Well, I knew I was going to give up one of them
eventually, and football wasn't going like I planned it to go. I don't have
any regrets about it. I still like football.
BW: Let's say you had signed with Tennessee, and say you
would have been starting as a redshirt freshman. Would the decision have been
tougher?
AD: Oh, yeah. I'd still be playing football, more
than likely. But I think everything has a purpose in life. The Big Man Upstairs
had something else in mind for me, and that's why I'm sitting here.
BW: What if you had gone on to an All-American collegiate
football career and became a top draft pick? Which sport do you think you would
have chosen?
AD: I was going to do both of them for as long as
I could. If that would have happened, I don't know what I would do. I'm glad
I don't have to make that decision. Leaving football when I did was the hardest
decision I ever had to make in my life. I can't imagine being a top pick and
then having to choose.
BW: Being from Houston, did you grow up an Astros fan?
AD: Oh yeah.
BW: Along with every other team in baseball, they could
have picked you in the first round. But that's why you fell to the second round;
a lot of teams were worried about you playing football.
AD: That's what I let everyone know — that
I was going to play football, but I'd like to play baseball, too. I guess that
scared a lot of teams off.
BW: Do you get swamped for ticket requests when the
Reds play in Houston?
AD: Not really. My family is really good about that.
Most of them have season tickets, so I only have to get about 15 tickets, which
is not too bad.
BW: Your spring training roommate, Aaron Boone, said
you're not the neatest person in the world. You could say he's called you a
'slob.' How do you respond to that?
AD: Compared to him! He's like a girl! He's a straight
chick when it comes to cleaning houses and stuff like that.
Dunn turns to teammate Ken Griffey Jr. who is standing
nearby. Am I right?
KG: What?
AD: Old boy Straight Chick.
KG: I refuse to get involved.
AD: Come on, throw your two cents worth in! He's
not going to drop a 'slob' on me!
Griffey smiles and shakes his head.
AD: I'll put it this way. He's a terrific roommate.
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