[新聞] Yankees' A-Rod, Mientkiewicz share past
一篇關於A-Rod高中時期打美式足球的文章。
From: http://tinyurl.com/2od449
Yankees' A-Rod, Mientkiewicz share past
By PETER ABRAHAM
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: March 12, 2007)
TAMPA, Fla. - Alex Rodriguez has hit 464 home runs and made the All-Star team
10 times. Doug Mientkiewicz was an all-American at Florida State and helped
the Red Sox win the 2004 World Series.
But some of the best times they have had as athletes came in 1991 when they
were football teammates at Westminster Christian High in Miami.
"I loved football, I absolutely loved it," Mientkiewicz said yesterday. "I
know Alex felt the same way. We had a ball that season."
The Chiefs had an undefeated regular season and advanced to the district
championship game before losing a two-point game in double overtime.
Rodriguez was the quarterback and Mientkiewicz a pass-catching tight end.
Now they are teammates with the Yankees. But the memories remain vivid.
"There is nothing like game day in football," Rodriguez said yesterday after
the Yankees were beaten 4-3 by the Cleveland Indians. "I really enjoyed it. I
thought about playing in college; that's how much I liked it."
That's not just idle talk. Former Westminster baseball coach Rich Hofman, who
was at Legends Field yesterday, was an assistant coach in football at the
school. He said Rodriguez threw for nearly 2,000 yards as a junior.
"Alex could have been a starting quarterback in the NFL. He had tremendous
ability as a quarterback," Hofman said. "He was such a great athlete he could
have done anything he wanted."
Rodriguez wore No. 13 in honor of Dan Marino and threw the ball 30-35 times a
game. The Chiefs averaged nearly 40 points a game as Rodriguez set several
state records.
"Alex was a Division I quarterback," said Mientkiewicz, who caught 10
touchdown passes. "We ran the University of Miami's offense, and he could
throw the ball down the field. He could do some special things."
Mientkiewicz transferred to Westminster Christian before his senior year,
primarily to play baseball. He had not played football before.
"I had to beg my mother to let me play," he said. "But it was great. I had
four TD catches in one game, and another was called back. They weren't short
passes, either. Alex could throw it."
Westminster was a Florida powerhouse in baseball under Hofman. He encouraged
his players to play football, believing it would make them better in the
spring.
"The thing about football that you can't surpass with baseball is that
physical toughness," Hofman said. "There's a little something different about
a football player who competes in baseball than a standard baseball player.
"You don't see so much of that now because kids specialize in one sport. But
it worked out well for us and I know it benefited Alex and Doug."
Westminster's team that season also included J.D. Arteaga at linebacker and
Mickey "Pee Wee" Lopez at defensive back. Both were drafted and played
minor-league baseball.
"It was a small school, so a lot of guys played both sports," Rodriguez said.
"We should have been state champions in football. But that next spring, we
were state champions in baseball and I think what happened in football was a
big reason.
"We had to bench 300 pounds to get a letterman jacket for football. We were
so damn stupid that we lifted weights all the time to get that jacket. That
had a tremendous carry-over for baseball because I was so strong."
Mientkiewicz graduated in 1992. Rodriguez returned the following fall to play
football, but the team was undermanned and he was getting sacked regularly.
He then broke his wrist covering a punt and never played football again.
"I was getting killed because all my guys had graduated," he said. "Then once
I became the No. 1 pick in baseball, that was it for football. But I really
miss it."
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