From 1963 through 1986, Pete Rose was one of Major League Baseball’s most dominant players and still stands as the league’s all-time leader in hits. However, there was a time when a different sport could have been open to him.
Appearing on the “Talking to Titans” podcast, Rose revealed that he was recruited to play football at Tennessee. He went as far as to say that football was his best sport, and even visited the Tennessee campus.
Rose ultimately decided that school just wasn’t for him. He wasn’t interested in college and signed his first pro contract after graduating high school.
Via 247Sports:
“Back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, that’s all we had to do was sports,” Rose said. “We didn’t have the iPads. We didn’t have the computers. We didn’t have the iPhones. We didn’t have none of that stuff. So, we had sports. I was a three-sport player. To be honest with you, I was a much better football player than I was a baseball player. That was because of my dad. If I had been a good student, and I was one of those students that did good enough to stay eligible, if you know what I mean. If I had been a good enough student, I would’ve went to college and played football. I almost went to the University of Tennessee. I flew down there for a recruiting trip one time, and I just didn’t dig school. I made out okay.”
In hindsight, it looks like Pete Rose made the right decision for himself.
Rose became a 17-time All-Star, three-time World Series champion and holds the MLB records for hits, singles, at-bats, games played, and plate appearances.
He’d be in Cooperstown too were he not banned for gambling.
But Rose is still acknowledged as one of the all-time greats.
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