The Real Moonlight Graham: Byron Gettis

Norm Sanders of the Belleville (Illinois) News-Democrat has an interesting story on Byron Gettis, a 26-year old who will become a freshman at Southern Illinois University Carbondale this fall. (Sanders, "Cahokia Star Finally Gets His Chance," 4/27/2006). Back in 1998, when Gettis was 18-years old and graduating from high school, he signed with the Kansas City Royals organization as a free agent in lieu of accepting a scholarship to play football at the University of Minnesota. However, his contract with the Royals stipulated that the Royals would pay for his college education, if and when he later pursued it. Gettis went on to a successful minor league career, and even reached the big leagues with the Royals for 21 games and 39 at-bats in the 2004 season. He had 7 hits and one RBI, and got to play with Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney. But in 2005, he was back in the minors, and then decided to retire from baseball.

This fall, Gettis will take the Royals up on their contractual committment to pay for his college education, and he'll try to make his college football team as a walk-on. Gettis has no regrets. He says of his brief time in the big leagues:

"It was unbelievable. It was probably one of the best and greatest experiences of my life. When you reach your goal that you've dreamed of, it's unbelievable. It was just being part of that brotherhood, having your name on the roll in the big leagues."

Interestingly, and as baseball agent Joe Rosen has discussed and written about, big league teams often include a college education clause in contracts with players who elect to sign out-of-high-school. It's unclear what percentage of players actually exercise that clause, but it's a good reminder that a college education is not a "one-shot-deal" in American life. People can go back to school at any point, so when an extraordinary opportunity presents itself out-of-high-school (be it sports or otherwise), a person doesn't forfeit college by taking advantage of it. And considering that Byron Gettis got to play in the big leagues, even for a very brief and unnoticed time, I suspect he'll have some great stories to tell as a freshman this fall.

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