Tom Brady: Future Hall of Fame QB, Nearly an Expo?
By Rob Myerson
Tom Brady was selected in the 18th round of the 1995 draft by the Montreal Expos. The story behind the Super Bowl Champion choosing football over baseball.
In light of the recent news that Tom Brady will be signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Call to the Pen reminds everyone that he nearly chose baseball over football…
Earlier today, NFL Super Bowl champion quarterback and future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady posted on Twitter that after 20 seasons, he will be leaving the New England Patriots and “taking his football journey somewhere else”. Reports this evening suggest that the “somewhere else” will be with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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The move is currently sending shock waves across the NFL community, as it’s nearly unprecedented that a player with Brady’s stature leave a team after two decades. After winning six Super Bowls with Brady under center, the Patriots will now look to replace their franchise icon.
New England was lucky to have Brady, but do they realize how lucky?
Patriots Nation is quick to tribute Drew Bledsoe‘s injury as the beginning of Tom Brady’s run in New England, but they actually have former Expos, Giants, Dodgers, and Athletics utilityman F.P. Santangelo to thank for Brady even choosing to play football in the first place.
In the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft, the Montreal Expos selected a catcher out of Junipero Serra High School in California. That catcher was Tom Brady.
Kevin Malone, the Expos general manager at the time thought “he could have been one of the greatest catchers ever.”
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A little outlandish, but he felt that “the projections were based on the fact we had a left-hand-hitting catcher, with arm strength and who was athletic.”
Expos brass asked Santangelo to hang out with Brady and do his best to persuade him to sign with the team. Once Brady mentioned his scholarship at the University of Michigan, the outfielder responded with “Dude sitting on buses all day sucks. Being a QB at Michigan would rule.”
He even went on to introduce Brady as “Michigan’s quarterback” to all of the players including budding ace Pedro Martinez and manager Felipe Alou. The more players that Brady met, the more guys got on him, and asked: “Why he would want to make $800 a month in the minor leagues when he can be the quarterback at the University of Michigan?“.
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With Tom Brady set to continue his reign of football dominance in Tampa Bay, one can only wonder what the NFL and MLB would look like today had Santangelo been a more loyal salesman.