It’s mostly because of the glasses, but if you watch a video from 2000 in which Minnesota Prep star Joe Mauer talks about visiting places like Michigan, Arizona State and Florida State to recruit college football players, you’ll wonder: And what about Hogwarts?!
The youth, the innocence, the humble earnestness, the naivete, the “don’t you know” accent — it’s all there when Channel 11 in the Twin Cities interviews the 17-year-old quarterback from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul. He wasn’t destined to be a college football star or a spendthrift wizard, but instead a franchise catcher (and first baseman) with the Minnesota Twins.
“You look like a professor… you look like, you know, a chemistry student,” the reporter says, omitting what today would be an obvious reference to Harry Potter. But the interview took place a year before Daniel Radcliffe made Potter even more famous on screen than JK Rowling was with her book series.
Still, Mauer’s glasses resemble Potter’s on the original cover of the books, although back then he looked more like “Where’s Waldo?”
“I just consider myself a normal 17-year-old,” Mauer says in the video. “I just like going out and having fun. I especially like the sports that I do. I’ll just keep doing it as long as I can.”
Mauer’s attitude is still pretty much the same at 30.
Here is the video:
This embedded content is not available in your region.
The video calls Mauer possibly the second-best quarterback in the country, but he was No. 1 on that list. After tentatively accepting a spot at FSU, Mauer was selected first overall by the Twins in the 2001 MLB Draft. He signed with them and—five All-Star teams, three batting titles and AL MVP later—the rest is history. Alakazam!
Update: Here are some of the games in which Mauer led his team to the state title as a junior.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that Mauer was selected second. That honor actually went to Mark Prior, who was signed by the Cubs.
Large BLS H/N: @PeteHuge, @OverTheBaggy and @2J
– – – – – – –
David Brown is editor for Big league stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
