Brody Brecht baseball only moving forward
The inevitable became reality on Friday evening. After throwing 5.2 innings against Western Michigan and striking out a career best 10 batters, Brody Brecht made it official that he would be done playing football at the University of Iowa for the time being and focus all his attention on baseball.
“I want to say thank you. Thank you to the great Hawkeye fans for your unwavering support. Thank you to the coaches and staff of the Hawkeye football program for giving me a chance to fulfill my childhood dream as part of this incredible program. Thank you to my football teammates for a lifetime’s worth of great memories. Thank you to my friends and my family for their unwavering support and love. Thank you to God for the blessings of my life, and for the clarity to make the choice I’ve made.”
“Football is my first love. But in the past few years, baseball has become my true passion. With that said, I have decided to step away from football to focus full-time on my college baseball career. I want to be great at baseball and hope to play Major League Baseball in the future. I believe putting my focus fully on baseball is the best way for me to achieve that goal.”
Brecht was committed to play football for the Hawkeyes, but the summer of senior year of high school he received plenty of interest from major league baseball teams. But, his asking price was too high and no MLB teams selected him in their draft.
He arrived for the start of fall camp and then promptly injured his hand in a drill and was essentially sidelined for most of the season. Brecht ended up redshirting and then played baseball last spring.
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In his freshman season, Brecht appeared in 17 games, including one start. He posted a 1-4 record and a 3.18 era. This season he has a 2-1 record with a 2.20 era. In 28.2 innings pitched, Brecht has struck out 46 batters and walked 21 hitters. Several times this year he has hit over 100 mph on the radar gun.
On the football field last season, Brecht played in 11 games, catching 9 passes for 87 yards. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz is supportive of the decision by the in-state wide receiver.
“We wish Brody the very best as he focuses solely on his baseball career. He is a talented and dedicated athlete and we are appreciative of his contributions while a member of the football team.”
