Todd Helton sometimes gets noticed in Knoxville, his hometown and the place where he developed as a baseball star.
But people don't really talk about his baseball accomplishments, they talk about the fact that he was the Tennessee football quarterback.
Helton, a two-sport player at Tennessee, will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, on Sunday, where his Tennessee helmet is on display to commemorate his football days.
Todd Helton played football at the University of Tennessee.
Although Helton made his name in baseball, he was also a star football player and came to Tennessee to play both sports. In 1994, Helton became the starter after Jerry Colquitt was injured. Helton started three games before suffering an injury of his own.
He appeared in 12 games in his Vols career, completing 41 of 75 passes for 484 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.
While at Central High School, Helton was named the 1992 Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year in both football and baseball.
Todd Helton and Peyton Manning were teammates at the University of Tennessee.
Helton started the game as a sophomore at UCLA ahead of two promising freshmen, including Peyton Manning, who took over for Helton after he was injured against Mississippi State.
In three starts, Helton completed 36 of 66 passes for 406 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Manning, of course, had a legendary career at Tennessee, where he was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 NFL Draft. He went 39-6 in four years as a starter and set UT records. He holds the records for passing yards (11,201) and passing touchdowns (89).
Helton, who spent his entire 17-year major league career with the Colorado Rockies, and Manning, who played for the Broncos from 2012-15, met while playing professionally for Denver in 2012 and 2013.
How Todd Helton became a Hall of Famer
Helton, a first baseman who retired in 2013, had a career batting average of .316 and holds the Rockies franchise records for games played (2,247), hits (2,519), runs scored (1,401), home runs (369) and RBIs (1,406). A product of Knoxville Central High School, Helton was a five-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger winner, three-time Gold Glove winner, was the 2000 batting champion and was named a top-10 MVP candidate three times.
pitching:Twenty-nine years later, Todd Helton's domination of Clemson in the 1995 CWS still amazes Tim Corbin.
He becomes the second Rockies player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, joining Larry Walker, who was inducted in 2020. The two were teammates at Colorado.
Helton had his best season in 2000, leading the National League in eight offensive categories, including hits (216), doubles (59), RBIs (147) and batting average (.372). Helton became the first player in MLB history to hit 35 or more doubles in 10 consecutive seasons.
Mike Wilson covers University of Tennessee sports. Email him at michael.wilson@knoxnews.com and follow him on Twitter @Mike WilsonIf you enjoy Mike's coverage, please consider a digital subscription for full access.
