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Friday, October 30, 1998
Williams isn't the only baseball playing Longhorn
By JEFFREY SHELMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
Even after a season of minor league baseball and more than
half of a season of college football, Adam Dunn has no idea what
he wants to do with his life.
His options are simply too interesting.
During the summer Dunn is a minor league baseball player in
the Cincinnati Reds organization. During the school year, he's
a quarterback at the University of Texas.
And since Dunn is talented at both sports - he hit .288 for
the Reds' rookie team in Billings and was as high as No. 2 on
the Texas depth chart - who can really blame him for not wanting
to make up his mind?
"When I left Billings I didn't want to leave," said
Dunn, who was the Reds second-round draft pick. "But when
I was on the plane, I started thinking about football and thought,
This is going to be fun." That's why I couldn't give one
of them up."
Dunn will stay at Texas through the end of the school year
and will likely end up with one of the Reds Class A teams around
the middle of May. Even though he's put away his bat and glove
for now, the Reds have not forgotten about Dunn.
"(Director of Player Development) Muzzy Jackson's called
me a couple of times," Dunn said. "And (general manager)
Jim Bowden's called three or four times."
Dunn was fairly effective in Billings, but he wasn't happy
with his performance last summer.
"Maybe it was better pitching and the wood bats, but I
plan on hitting .350 with more home runs and RBI and stolen bases,"
said Dunn, an outfielder who had four homers and 13 RBI. "I
hope it happens this year.
"By the end of the (1999) season, I'd like to get up to
Double-A. I'm going to try to advance as quickly as possible.
That might help my decision."
Dunn's coaches at Texas think he has potential as a quarterback.
Dunn threw for 4,792 yards and 44 touchdowns during his high school
career in Porter, Texas.
"He has all the physical abilities," Texas offensive
coordinator Greg Davis said. "He has a good strong arm, good
size, he's able to move."
While Dunn likely will redshirt this season, he and Major Applewhite
will compete for the starting job during spring practice next
season.
If Dunn has any questions about how to balance his two sports,
he has to go no further than his afternoon video games pal - Texas
running back, Heisman Trophy candidate and Philadelphia Phillies
farmhand Ricky Williams - to get answers.
"I talk to Ricky every day," Dunn said. "He
wants to play (baseball) this summer even though everybody knows
he's going to get drafted in the first round (of the NFL Draft).
Whenever I have questions, I just ask Ricky and he helps me out.
"It really does (help). You see someone you know doing
it and you say, Why can't I do it.' But playing quarterback and
baseball is tough. I'm just starting to get comfortable throwing
the football again. But I want to do both as long as I can."
Williams realizes that what he has been doing over the last
few summers is different than what Dunn is trying to accomplish.
"A running back can miss spring practice and everything
stays pretty much the same," Williams said. "But he's
a freshman quarterback with a lot of potential who wants to play.
He can't miss spring practice because there's so much for him
to learn."
(Jeffrey Shelman writes for The Cincinnati Post.)
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