Rick, Sulphur Springs, TXSubj: The straw that stirs the drink
Is it true that Reggie Jackson went to university on a football scholarship?
That’s correct, Rick. Mr. October was a phenomenal multi-sport star who accepted a scholarship to play football at Arizona State University. However, Jackson never warmed up to the team’s intense regimen and he quit the squad and returned to his first love of baseball following his freshman year. It proved to be a savvy decision and by 1966 he was named College Player of the Year by The Sporting News. Kansas City Athletics owner Charlie Finley was so impressed with Jackson’s exploits that he selected him second overall in the 1967 Major League Baseball amateur draft and offered him a $95,000 signing bonus. Jackson happily accepted the offer and left college to enter the world of professional baseball.
