Alan Cockrell, 1st true freshman to start at QB
Cockrell's first love had always been baseball, and he was an even better outfielder than he was a quarterback. An All-American, he was named to the University of Tennessee All-Century Baseball Team in 2009. The San Francisco Giants made Cockrell the ninth pick overall in the 1984 MLB draft, and he chose to forgo his senior year in college and play professional baseball.
Cockrell played in the minor leagues for thirteen years with five different organizations, including five years with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He starred for the Sky Sox and eventually became a member of the Sky Sox Hall of Fame. At the end of the 1996 season, at the age of 33, he finally had a cup of coffee in the major leagues. He debuted for the Colorado Rockies on September 7, 1996 with a pinch hit appearance in which he struck out against All-Star closer Billy Wagner. His first major league hit came three days later in the form of a pinch hit double off Tom Glavine against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field. He had nine plate appearances for the Rockies, and retired at the end of the season.