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OPTIONS: Panthers' rookie has baseball opportunity
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Published: June 16, 2009
CHARLOTTE
Anthony Scirrotto, one of nearly two dozen undrafted rookies with the Carolina Panthers, faces long odds to make the regular-season roster.
Only Scirrotto, a former Penn State safety, has a fallback plan: professional baseball.
Sure, Scirrotto hasn't played competitively since he was a power-hitting high-school shortstop four years ago. But it didn't stop the Kansas City Royals from taking him last week in the 50th and final round of the draft.
"This is my first priority, I want to play football," Scirrotto said after yesterday's offseason workout with the Panthers. "But I look at (baseball) as a business opportunity."
Scirrotto grew up a two-sport star at West Deptford (N.J.) High School outside Philadelphia. He caught the attention of baseball scouts after playing in the American Legion World Series before his junior year.
Scirrotto pitched and played some third base, but his favorite sport was football. So when Coach Joe Paterno of Penn State came calling, the gridiron was the easy choice despite his .500 batting average.
"The (baseball) money sounded good, but I sat down with my parents and weighed the pros and cons," Scirrotto said. "Just going to college, trying to earn that degree and having an opportunity to play football for Coach Paterno really outweighed the baseball life of riding around on a bus in the minor leagues."
The baseball scouts, including J.J. Picollo of the Atlanta Braves, backed off once Scirrotto committed to Penn State.
Scirrotto finished his career as a two-time all-Big Ten selection with 12 career interceptions. But there were questions if Scirrotto was fast enough to play safety in the NFL. He knew his times in pre-draft workouts would be important.
Only Scirrotto pulled a hamstring and couldn't play in a postseason All-Star game. He wasn't invited to the NFL combine and still couldn't run at Penn State's pro day.
"It just wound up lingering, lingering," Scirrotto said of the hamstring. "It was a tough situation."
After going undrafted, Scirrotto was contacted by several teams. He chose to sign with Carolina.
"He was a very productive player at Penn State and we thought he fit into what we do at safety," General Manager Marty Hurney of the Panthers said.
While Scirrotto wasn't thinking about baseball anymore, his former high-school coach, Sean McKenna, kept his name alive in baseball circles. Last month, Scirrotto got a call from a Royals scout, saying they might draft him. But when Thursday came, the last day of the baseball draft and an off day with the Panthers, he decided to go golfing.
"I got the call while I was out on the golf course. I was pretty excited.," Scirrotto said.
Scirrotto's best shot to make the Panthers will be if he can fill a hole on special teams. But he faces a difficult road and isn't even assured of a training-camp invite. Scirrotto said if he's released he'll try to hook on with another football team first. If that doesn't work, there's always baseball.
"I love Bo Jackson," Scirrotto said, smiling. "If it really came down to it and I had to hang up the cleats, I'm young and I'd love to keep playing sports."
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