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Faison Trading Batting Helmet for Football
By Chad Gramling | April 1, 2008
Note: while this would have made a good one, the following is no “April Fools” Joke.
Vince Faison was a first round pick (20th overall) of the Padres in 1999 and played in Fort Wayne late that year and all of 2000. In 2004, they traded him with RHP Kevin Jarvis, 1B Dave Hansen, and C Wiki Gonalez to the Mariners for 3B Jeff Cirillo RHP Brian Sweeney and cash. In 2006, Faison signed a minor league deal with the A’s.
Ultimately, he made it as high as AAA, but never even got a cup of coffee with a big league squad. Now, he’s trading in his batting helmet for a football helmet - and he’s going back to school. Before he singed with the Padres, he was a highly sought after high school defensive back.
He had the Padres include guarantees to pay for college in his first pro contract and will take advantage of that clause while trying to land a walk-on sport with the Tennessee Volunteers football team.
“I had always told my agent that I was going to give baseball everything I had until I was 25, and if it hadn’t worked out for me by then I was going to look at my options,” Faison said. “That time came after this summer when I played with the A’s organization, and after the season, I decided that I was going to give football a try and go back to get my education.”
He had his coach send out feelers to Georgia to gauge their interest, but he never heard back. So, he got in touch with coach Greg Adkins, who is Tennessee’s offensive line coach. Adkins had recruited Faison to Georgia before he began playing Minor League Baseball.
Faison reports that he’s now 6-foot-2, 205 pounds and faster than when he left high school. He expects to get a shot at safety in the spring, but is open to playing any position; offense or defense.
Tags: Fort Wayne Wizards, College Football, Vince Faison
Topics: Alumni, Wizards, Wizards Where R They? |
April 1st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Unfortunately he’ll also be suspended for the season’s first two games because of a DUI:
http://www.volunteertv.com/volsfootball/headlines/15138756.html
April 1st, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Unfortunately he’ll also be suspended for the season’s first two games because of a DUI.
April 1st, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Bummer. I did not know that but thanks for sharing Geoff. I dug a bit, here’s a link to substantiate. Hoepfully his decisions are more grounded in wisdom as he moves on with the next phase of his life.