Fox Sports: Joe Mauer: The one that got away from college football

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BleedGopher

BleedGopher

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per Fox Sports:

It also raises one of the most interesting “What if?” questions in college football history: What if Joe Mauer had focused on football? How good could he have been?

Days before Signing Day, FOX Sports tracked down Mauer and the people who know him best to ask that question.

Mauer eventually turned his attention to college, taking official visits to Miami, Arizona and Minnesota, as well as Florida State, after bonding with the Seminoles' young offensive coordinator, Mark Richt.

Of course no trip to Tallahassee, Fla., would be complete without meeting FSU legendary coach Bobby Bowden, something Mauer remembers vividly to this day. Mauer took his official visit during a break in his high school basketball season, and Bowden planned to reciprocate by coming to Minnesota.

“I remember sitting in his office,” Mauer said. “He told me, ‘I want to come up to Minnesota and watch you play basketball. But I don’t want to come up there in that cold, just to get a no!’”

It’s been a full 14 years since Mauer chose baseball once and for all, leaving many to wonder just how good Mauer would’ve been if he’d focused on football full time.

Just about everyone who saw him play has the same answer.

“There’s no doubt about it, it’s 100 percent that he would’ve been successful at Florida State,” Lemming said. “He would’ve been a first-round pick and still playing in the NFL today.”

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...seminoles-minnesota-twins-bobby-bowden-020215

Go Gophers!!
 

BleedGopher said:
per Fox Sports:

It also raises one of the most interesting “What if?” questions in college football history: What if Joe Mauer had focused on football? How good could he have been?

Days before Signing Day, FOX Sports tracked down Mauer and the people who know him best to ask that question.

Mauer eventually turned his attention to college, taking official visits to Miami, Arizona and Minnesota, as well as Florida State, after bonding with the Seminoles' young offensive coordinator, Mark Richt.

Of course no trip to Tallahassee, Fla., would be complete without meeting FSU legendary coach Bobby Bowden, something Mauer remembers vividly to this day. Mauer took his official visit during a break in his high school basketball season, and Bowden planned to reciprocate by coming to Minnesota.

“I remember sitting in his office,” Mauer said. “He told me, ‘I want to come up to Minnesota and watch you play basketball. But I don’t want to come up there in that cold, just to get a no!’”

It’s been a full 14 years since Mauer chose baseball once and for all, leaving many to wonder just how good Mauer would’ve been if he’d focused on football full time.

Just about everyone who saw him play has the same answer.

“There’s no doubt about it, it’s 100 percent that he would’ve been successful at Florida State,” Lemming said. “He would’ve been a first-round pick and still playing in the NFL today.”

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...seminoles-minnesota-twins-bobby-bowden-020215

Go Gophers!!
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BS. Mauer, although talented, is one of the biggest panzy-asses in baseball.
 

He would have been injured early on and spent the next 3+ years fighting the injury bug. He would have been drafted in the 3rd or 4th round based on potential, sat on the bench for a year or two, then either dazzled until hurt or turned into a Chistian Ponder clone. Just sayin.... Bi-lateral Leg Weakness can stroke at anytime.
 





The one that got away? Cripes, Mauer practically injures himself rolling out of bed in the morning. Anybody that thinks he would have lasted as a quarterback in either college or the NFL hasn't been paying attention.
 

No way of knowing what would have happened. When Eric Decker was playing for the Gophers, he was hurt all the time. Went on to the pros, stayed healthy, and is now one of the top WR's in the NFL.

Football is a different sport than baseball. There is no way to predict whether Mauer would have been injury-prone in FB. And he was a heck of a QB in HS - great touch on the ball. Assuming a good career at Fla State, Mauer could have easily been a 1st-round draft choice.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
No way of knowing what would have happened. When Eric Decker was playing for the Gophers, he was hurt all the time. Went on to the pros, stayed healthy, and is now one of the top WR's in the NFL.

Football is a different sport than baseball. There is no way to predict whether Mauer would have been injury-prone in FB. And he was a heck of a QB in HS - great touch on the ball. Assuming a good career at Fla State, Mauer could have easily been a 1st-round draft choice.
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IMO he was exposed in the state playoffs his senior year against eden prairie. His team absolutely beat the H out of the really underfunded city schools in his conference. He had the arm, the athleticism, and size. He did not have the "it" factor, it's possible he could have been coached up by FSU, but he would have been a system guy.
 



I'm guessing by the way he runs pitchers he would have been able to read the defenses pretty well. And that is more than half the battle for a quarterback. And all that time spent in a crouch would have been avoided and he probably wouldn't have had the leg problems. You know, cause FSU runs mostly out of the shotgun!

Funny thing is, he is a tall catcher, would he have been considered a short quarterback at 6'3"?
 

Ole said:
IMO he was exposed in the state playoffs his senior year against eden prairie. His team absolutely beat the H out of the really underfunded city schools in his conference. He had the arm, the athleticism, and size. He did not have the "it" factor, it's possible he could have been coached up by FSU, but he would have been a system guy.
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You really think one high school game can tell you if someone has the "it" factor? That's a pretty ridiculous claim imo. He certainly had the "it" factor in baseball, whatever that even means.

I also think Joe might have been healthier playing FB. Only 16 games per year, and it's a penalty to look at a QB wrong in the NFL (if they're good).
 


Lot of internet tough guys posting in this thread, that's for sure.
 



For me it goes like this... Yes he may have been a successful college QB, but it is also possible that he plays qb in college and is a total bust when he is no longer protected by an offensive line superior to their competition. Joes body is proving to not be able to handle the minimal contact sport of baseball (although we must also admit he played the position with the MOST contact), and to think he could have flourished in the game of pure contact is pretty far-fetched. Maybe he would have been drafted out of FSU with a first round pick but as history has shown (Christain Steele-ponder) having a glorified college career does not always make NFL ready qbs.
 


IIRC, Mauer's first major injury occurred while he was going after a foul ball and his cleat caught on a seam in the Metrodome artificial turf. Maybe no baseball at the crap dome, and no injury.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

WAGopher said:
IIRC, Mauer's first major injury occurred while he was going after a foul ball and his cleat caught on a seam in the Metrodome artificial turf. Maybe no baseball at the crap dome, and no injury.
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Three words... Bilateral Leg Weakness

Blame whatever you want but anyone suffering from this is likely not a body ready to and play in the NFL.
 

EliteOpinionGuy said:
Three words... Bilateral Leg Weakness

Blame whatever you want but anyone suffering from this is likely not a body ready to and play in the NFL.
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A totally fictitious condition invented by people not named Joe Mauer.

Having said that, I have a hard time imagining him being a real take-charge guy in the huddle.
 

EliteOpinionGuy said:
Three words... Bilateral Leg Weakness

Blame whatever you want but anyone suffering from this is likely not a body ready to and play in the NFL.
Click to expand...

Wasn't blaming anyone or anything. Just offering an observation and a thought.

Regarding bilateral leg weakness; it can be caused by many things and certainly wasn't present early in Mauer's career.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

short ornery norwegian said:
No way of knowing what would have happened. When Eric Decker was playing for the Gophers, he was hurt all the time. Went on to the pros, stayed healthy, and is now one of the top WR's in the NFL.

Football is a different sport than baseball. There is no way to predict whether Mauer would have been injury-prone in FB. And he was a heck of a QB in HS - great touch on the ball. Assuming a good career at Fla State, Mauer could have easily been a 1st-round draft choice.
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Although Decker did have a decent amount of injuries, I don't remember anyone questioning his toughness. No one forgets the catch against Cal where he was crushed, but still held on to the ball. He had a quarterback that didn't have the best accuracy to lead him away from hits, and he never shied away from challenging for the ball. Every other team also knew he was our only receiving threat, so coverage was usually rolled that way with a safety closing to put a hit on him whenever he caught the ball. Take away some of those hits, and the accumulation of some of those injuries in college may have been less.
 

I'm reading a lot of really moronic stuff in this thread, written by people who have never spent nine innings in a crouch, tried to stretch a single into a double, or been hit by a 95 mph fastball. A major league catcher takes an insane amount of punishment, and Mauer is as durable as most of them.

Count me among those who think football would have been kinder to his body.
 



everybody knows my name said:
I'm reading a lot of really moronic stuff in this thread, written by people who have never spent nine innings in a crouch, tried to stretch a single into a double, or been hit by a 95 mph fastball. A major league catcher takes an insane amount of punishment, and Mauer is as durable as most of them.

Count me among those who think football would have been kinder to his body.
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Actually, he's not. They moved him to first base. Why? Because he wasn't durable enough to play catcher and literally couldn't stay on the field due to unending injuries.
 


everybody knows my name said:
I'm reading a lot of really moronic stuff in this thread, written by people who have never spent nine innings in a crouch, tried to stretch a single into a double, or been hit by a 95 mph fastball. A major league catcher takes an insane amount of punishment, and Mauer is as durable as most of them.

Count me among those who think football would have been kinder to his body.
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Agreed.
 

MRJ said:
Actually, he's not. They moved him to first base. Why? Because he wasn't durable enough to play catcher and literally couldn't stay on the field due to unending injuries.
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He got a concussion you knob, that's why they moved him to first base, because it's a dangerous traumatic brain injury of which repeated instances can seriously eff up your life.

Oh by the way, before that season (in which he got that concussion - 2013) he was in the 95th percentile of games played for all catchers through their age-29 season. Seems reasonably durable to me.

http://www.twinkietown.com/2013/2/13/3984632/joe-mauers-hall-of-fame-case
 


He's a pussy. I was hoping AJ would've signed with the Twins. He would've bitch slapped him.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
He's a pussy. I was hoping AJ would've signed with the Twins. He would've bitch slapped him.
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I hope you're just stirring the pot because anyone who has done the following is not a pussy:

Joe Mauer
MLB Awards:
• AL MVP (2009)
• 6× All-Star (2006, 2008–2010, 2012–2013)
• 3× AL batting champion (2006, 2008–2009)
• 3× Gold Glove Award (2008–2010)
• 5× Silver Slugger Award (2006, 2008–2010, 2013)
• 1× World Baseball Classic participant (2013)

MLB Records:
• Highest Career Average as a Catcher (.328)
• Highest Season Average as a Catcher (.365)
• Highest On Base Percentage among Catchers (.444)
• Most Batting Titles won by a Catcher (3)

He also has started more games at catcher than any other Twins player, (at least 832). Catcher is the most physically and mentally demanding position to play.




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