Jackson Holliday's dad Matt opens up about becoming football quarterback in high school

Jackson Holliday's father, Matt, had a storied MLB career, winning the World Series for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. Despite numerous accolades in baseball, Holliday's father was better in another sport - football.

The 45-year-old talked about his early athletic career on Sunday's episode of "The Ryan Ripken Show." The conversation started when Ripken asked whether he had won the Gatorade Player of the Year award in both sports.

"I was probably recruited more heavily as a football player," Matt Holliday said [from 6:18]. "Partly because my dad was coaching baseball at Oklahoma State, and I think the baseball community didn’t want to recruit me in baseball knowing that my dad was the head coach. But I was, yeah, heavily recruited as a football player."

The Cardinals Hall of Famer noted that he had always liked baseball and later played football. His brother, a football player, urged him to try the sport. He wanted to play as a quarterback, but he was over 120 lbs when he was in sixth and seventh grade, making the coaches put him on the line.

"And then the high school coach was like, 'Well, you know, he’s big. I think I’m going to move him to tight end.' And my brother’s like, 'Look, you move him to tight end, he won’t play.'oSo I got to play quarterback as a sophomore, and I just really, I kind of got good," Jakson Holliday's father added.

The 7x MLB All-Star shared that he set the state record for touchdown passes in his junior year, becoming a heavily recruited prospect. Notre Dame, Florida State, the University of Colorado and others wanted to enlist his service.

Jackson Holliday's dad chose baseball over football

Jackson Holliday and his father Matt - Source: Imagn

Initially, Jackson Holliday's father thought he could play both sports, but he realized that it could be overbearing. Moreover, he always dreamt of playing in the MLB.

Originally thought to be the Pirates' first-round pick, the Rockies picked Matt Holliday in the seventh round of the 1998 MLB draft. After not getting picked in the first round, teams thought they couldn't give a large enough bonus in the second round to lure the slugger away from football.

"And my uncle was actually a scout for the Rockies at the time," the 45-year-old said [From 8:40]. "He told their general manager, basically, like, 'He wants to play baseball. If we can get the bonus to a place where his dad will let him go.' And so that’s kind of how it happened."

When he was in the minor leagues, the 45-year-old admitted he wondered whether he had made the correct decision.

"I could be playing football in front of 75,000 fans, and I’m here playing baseball in Tucson, Arizona in front of six girlfriends and two scouts, and it’s 145 degrees, and I’m 0-for-4, where you go, 'What just happened?'" he said.

However, his love for baseball and its grind triumphed, and it proved to be a great decision; his sons, Ethan and Jackson Holliday, have followed in his footsteps.

Jackson, his oldest son, was selected first overall by the Orioles in the 2022 MLB draft. Ethan, his second son, is projected to be the No.1 pick in the upcoming 2025 MLB draft.