Tom Brady’s football accomplishments are certainly impressive, but if the Montreal Expos had their way, he might have never made it to the Super Bowl.
Like Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, Brady was once a baseball prospect as well, and the Expos used an 18th-round pick on the left-handed-hitting catcher in 1995, hoping to steer him away from Michigan.
Instead, he went to college, was drafted 12 rounds earlier in the NFL Draft by the Patriots, and the rest is history.
But the scout who encouraged the Expos to try to lure him to the diamond is convinced the same qualities that enabled him to lead six teams to Super Bowls would have translated well.
“I think he would have been a pro,” veteran scout John Hughes said, via Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. “He had all the intangibles. He could throw, left-handed power. There is no reason to think this guy couldn’t have been a big league catcher.”
Brady was a promising baseball player at Serra High School, which also produced Barry Bonds and Gregg Jefferies.
“I could have ruined NFL history if I signed this guy,” Hughes said. “To this day, in all my years of scouting, Tom is still the most impressive high school kid I’ve ever been around. Just the person, the way he carries himself. What you’re seeing now, obviously, he is more mature. But it’s not a drastic change. He just had this presence.
“He’s a good guy. His family are great people. I always say, it was the most fun summer I tried to sign a guy I didn’t sign.”
Bill Belichick’s certainly glad he didn’t.
