Giancarlo Stanton could have had a great career in football too

Can you picture Major League Baseball without Giancarlo Stanton?

We certainly can’t, but if several top college football programs got their way back in 2007, the Stanton we know and love may be catching passes in the NFL now rather than launching Titanic home runs in MLB.

As detailed by Bleacher Report’s Adam Kramer, Stanton was a three-sports star at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. His remarkable athleticism and 6’5″, 215-pound frame piqued the interests of coaches, scouts and recruiters across the country in basketball and football, leaving him with legitmate options beyond baseball.

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Kramer spoke specifically to Steve Sarkisian, then an assistant coach to Pete Carroll at USC, and he made it clear that Stanton was squarely on their recruiting radar as a football talent.

Giancarlo Stanton is now a home run hitting machine for the Miami Marlins. (AP) “That was one of my schools, and I was very aware of who he was,” Sarkisian said. “He was a big, physical guy who was very competitive and came from a great program. We were very aware of him.”

Stanton played both ways on the gridiron, lining up at wide receiver on offense and cornerback on defense. He was tested by the best too, squaring off against future All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman in the CIF Southern Section Division III title game. He was also charged with covering a future NFL tight end in Joseph Fauria and all-purpose running back Shane Vereen, who excelled during a stint with the New England Patriots.

It was against this competition that Stanton proved his worth as a football star, both to his own coaches and to coaches at the Division I level.

“My high school football coaches worked with NFL guys,” Stanton told Bleacher Report. “They watched me play against current NFL guys and believed I could have made it.”

If they said it, we believe it. And if they didn’t say it, these highlights would tell the story.

Now 6’6″, 242 pounds, Stanton remains a physical marvel on the baseball diamond. He’s not a lumbering type, which is what you might imagine with a guy his size. He has good speed and covers ground in the outfield. But those skills only compliment Stanton’s greatest attribute, his immense power.

Stanton is an impact hitter who can change games with one swing of the bat. Those players don’t grow on trees, which is one reason why the Miami Marlins broke the bank to sign him to a 13-year agreement worth $325 million prior to the 2015 season. That remains the richest contract in North American sports history.

Let’s be honest though, big-bodied receivers who can move don’t grow on trees either. If Stanton could have stayed healthy playing college football, chances are he would have been an NFL prospect and made decent money there too. But nothing at all comparable to his MLB deal.

That brings us back to the question that’s asked frequently: If given a choice, should a prospect pursue football or baseball? Given the potential salaries — ask Jeff Samardzija, a top college prospect at one time, about this one — and the physical toll football takes, the easy answer is baseball. Football has worked out for guys like Russell Wilson and Colin Kaepernick too though, and sometimes pursuing the education is the best option of them all.

It’s a choice that has to be made on an individual basis, and Stanton’s choice especially highlights how difficult it can be. Fortunately for him, he made the best decision possible from both a financial and physical health standpoint.

There’s a lot more to the Bleacher Report story, including a deeper look into Stanton’s football days. It’s well worth a read, just be prepared to be amazed.

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