Feb. 3, 2008

There are several connections to Super Bowl XLII and college baseball.

New England kicker Stephen Gostowski went to Memphis on a baseball scholarship as a pitcher and was a walk-on on the Tigers' football team before earning a football scholarship. He made the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in both football and baseball.

Patriots’ backup quarterback Matt Cassel has two brothers who are in professional baseball and pitched in college. His older brother, Jack, pitched at Loyola Marymount, was drafted by the San Diego Padres and signed a free agent contract this past offseason with Houston. His younger brother, Justin, was a hurler at UC Irvine and was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. Cassel reached the finals of the 1994 Little League World Series with his Northridge, Calif., squad.

Tom Brady might have been a stud behind the plate if he had stayed with baseball. He was a two-time all-conference catcher in high school and was drafted in the 18th round by the Montreal Expos in 1995.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning's backup at Ole Miss was Seth Smith, an outfielder who has made it to the big leagues and played in the 2007 World Series for the Colorado Rockies. Wikipedia points out that brother Peyton Manning's backup at Tennessee was none other than Rockies star Todd Helton, who had his number 3 retired by the Volunteers this past week..