nn”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:”https://twitter.com”,”thumbnail_url”:null,”kind”:”oembed”,”width”:550,”contentType”:”wealthy”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content material”:”Soccer wasn’t the very best sport for Helton, but it surely turned out Tennessee was a very good place to put on shoulder pads when a bat wasn’t in his arms. His head coach, Phillip Fulmer, and his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, David Cutcliffe, inspired Helton to comply with his coronary heart, even when it led him away from soccer apply.nn“They have been baseball followers,” Helton mentioned. “They let me focus on baseball throughout baseball season. I’d accomplished all the person apply, and as soon as we’d break for ‘crew’ [a segment of football practice with backs, linemen and receivers together, rather than separated with their position groups], the kickers would run and I’d run in [to the dressing room].nn“I’d run in with them and go to the cage and hit. I’d miss the second half of apply. They by no means knew I used to be gone.””,”kind”:”textual content”},{“__typename”:”Video”,”contentDate”:”2024-01-23T23:51:55.682Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({“preferredPlaybacks”:”mp4AvcPlayback”})”:”https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2024/2024-01/23/b1492d82-33dbd2ce-d6e156b7-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4″,”kind”:”video”,”description”:”Todd Helton will get the decision informing him he is likely one of the latest electees to the 2024 Corridor of Fame Class”,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”length”:”00:01:09″,”slug”:”todd-helton-gets-hof-call”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-115″,”title”:”Colorado Rockies”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:115″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”vod”,”title”:”vod”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”classic”,”title”:”classic”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”baseball-hall-of-fame”,”title”:”Baseball Hall of Fame”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-115732″,”title”:”Todd Helton”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:115732″},”type”:”player”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/picture/add/{formatInstructions}/mlb/quswzjmrkvdcvxh9shfv”},”title”:”Todd Helton will get HOF name”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/todd-helton-gets-hof-call”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content material”:”Helton wasn’t large on the a part of soccer Manning turned well-known for — movie examine and off-field preparation. Helton mentioned he would playfully josh Manning as a “trainer’s pet,” but it surely was as a result of he confirmed up on campus with a better understanding of the soccer offense than Helton had in three years in this system.nnWatch this, although, and also you’ll see Manning didn’t thoughts some kidding again then:”,”kind”:”textual content”},{“__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:”
n”,”providerName”:”Instagram”,”providerUrl”:”https://www.instagram.com/”,”thumbnail_url”:”https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.2885-15/420515310_1125931688565000_972419699344322786_n.jpg?stp=dst-jpg_e35_s640x640_sh0.08&efg=e30&_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com&_nc_cat=100&_nc_ohc=BDGx4NdlufkAX9aWCi-&edm=AMO9-JQAAAAA&ccb=7-5&oh=00_AfBHqzNFFPeFci7qDYUMyweKq-ElDlm1NssZ1X6HUUZA1A&oe=65B66B1B&_nc_sid=cc8940″,”kind”:”oembed”,”width”:658,”contentType”:”wealthy”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content material”:”Helton was drawn to baseball: you repair issues by swinging the bat or fielding, and you’ll put the teachings to make use of the subsequent day in a recreation.nnStill, Helton discovered a kindred soul in Cutcliffe, who went on to carry head-coaching jobs at Ole Miss and Duke and now works for the Southeastern Convention as particular assistant to the commissioner for soccer relations.nn• High 10 moments in Helton’s Corridor of Fame professionnn“All the assessments, all the stuff that we needed to study from coach Cutcliffe, there was at all times a baseball saying within the again,” Helton mentioned. “For example, certainly one of them was ‘don’t be a dirt-kicker.’ That stayed with me. Don’t present your feelings. Don’t present the opposite crew that you just’re mad.nn“I broke many a bat and lots of a helmet, but it surely was beneath the tunnel the place no child might see. In soccer, you apply and every thing is concentrated on that one recreation, that one week. I took that soccer mentality into baseball, and let it out into each recreation.””,”kind”:”textual content”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/information/todd-helton-football-background-helped-him-to-hall-of-fame”,”contentType”:”information”,”subHeadline”:null,”abstract”:”This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat e-newsletter. To learn the total e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it commonly in your inbox.nKNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was a heady dude lengthy earlier than he outsmarted — and outworked and overpowered — pitchers”,”tagline({“formatString”:”none”})”:null,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”thomas-harding”,”title”:”Thomas Harding”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-115″,”title”:”Colorado Rockies”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:115″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-115732″,”title”:”Todd Helton”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:115732″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”baseball-hall-of-fame”,”title”:”Baseball Hall of Fame”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”kind”:”story”,”thumbnail”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/picture/add/{formatInstructions}/mlb/fzx7oulm4d2zss1zicsz”,”title”:”Todd Helton’s soccer background helped him to Corridor of Fame”}},”Staff:115″:{“__typename”:”Staff”,”id”:115},”Particular person:115732″:{“__typename”:”Particular person”,”id”:115732}}}
window.adobeAnalytics = {“reportingSuiteId”:”mlbglobal08,mlbcom08″,”linkInternalFilters”:”mlb”}
window.globalState = {“tracking_title”:”Main League Baseball”,”lang”:”en”}
window.appId = ”
/*–>*/
31 minutes in the past
This story was excerpted from Thomas Harding’s Rockies Beat e-newsletter. To learn the total e-newsletter, click on right here. And subscribe to get it commonly in your inbox.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Former Rockies first baseman Todd Helton was a heady dude lengthy earlier than he outsmarted — and outworked and overpowered — pitchers throughout a 17-year profession that on Tuesday landed him within the Corridor of Fame.
Helton’s 3.92 GPA at Knoxville Central Excessive positioned him ninth in a graduating class of 261. Guys like that make eager selections, like accepting a soccer scholarship from the College of Tennessee as a quarterback regardless that baseball was his dream. If for some purpose soccer tugged at his coronary heart, he was astute sufficient to go searching him.
Heath Shuler completed second in Heisman Trophy voting in 1993 and performed within the NFL. Helton was on the Vols’ roster when eventual Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer Peyton Manning arrived.
“I noticed actual fast that I wasn’t going to be an NFL quarterback,” Helton mentioned. “Soccer was paying my option to school, however I undoubtedly targeted on baseball.”
Soccer wasn’t the very best sport for Helton, but it surely turned out Tennessee was a very good place to put on shoulder pads when a bat wasn’t in his arms. His head coach, Phillip Fulmer, and his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, David Cutcliffe, inspired Helton to comply with his coronary heart, even when it led him away from soccer apply.
“They have been baseball followers,” Helton mentioned. “They let me focus on baseball throughout baseball season. I’d accomplished all the person apply, and as soon as we’d break for ‘crew’ [a segment of football practice with backs, linemen and receivers together, rather than separated with their position groups], the kickers would run and I’d run in [to the dressing room].
“I’d run in with them and go to the cage and hit. I’d miss the second half of apply. They by no means knew I used to be gone.”
Helton wasn’t large on the a part of soccer Manning turned well-known for — movie examine and off-field preparation. Helton mentioned he would playfully josh Manning as a “trainer’s pet,” but it surely was as a result of he confirmed up on campus with a better understanding of the soccer offense than Helton had in three years in this system.
Watch this, although, and also you’ll see Manning didn’t thoughts some kidding again then:
Helton was drawn to baseball: you repair issues by swinging the bat or fielding, and you’ll put the teachings to make use of the subsequent day in a recreation.
Nonetheless, Helton discovered a kindred soul in Cutcliffe, who went on to carry head-coaching jobs at Ole Miss and Duke and now works for the Southeastern Convention as particular assistant to the commissioner for soccer relations.
“All the assessments, all the stuff that we needed to study from coach Cutcliffe, there was at all times a baseball saying within the again,” Helton mentioned. “For example, certainly one of them was ‘don’t be a dirt-kicker.’ That stayed with me. Don’t present your feelings. Don’t present the opposite crew that you just’re mad.
“I broke many a bat and lots of a helmet, but it surely was beneath the tunnel the place no child might see. In soccer, you apply and every thing is concentrated on that one recreation, that one week. I took that soccer mentality into baseball, and let it out into each recreation.”