As the MLB baseball draft comes to an end, I think it is safe to still call him running back Toby Gerhart. Stanford football’s Toby Gerhart was not drafted durig the first two days of the MLB draft meaning it is very likely the baseball player will return to the gridiron for 2009. Gerhart had said a heavy signing bonus from a baseball team could force him into the minors instead of football. It appears that will not be the case.
Gerhart set a single season rushing record for Stanford last year with 1,136 yards. Needless to say, he is a critical part of the 2009 offense. I had a few minutes with Gerhart at the Stanford autograph session. While I could not get him to go on record and declare his intentions to return, our conversation was certainly about a summer getting ready for football again.
Q: Coach says your focus is on football now, how is it to change from baseball to football?
Right now it is just relaxing. I have been off for a week or so and just finishing up finals and then going to go home and start training with my father.
Q: Will you be there all summer long or will you come back with your teammates?
Play it by ear. Most of the team will be here. I’ll probably get back up here and work out. But now I need a little break.
Q: You have been playing baseball, now finals, football soon, how is it balancing your sports career and your academic career.
Late nights (chuckles), I don’t know. It works out. Baseball is hardest. We travel a lot. We leave on Thursday and don’t come back until Sunday night. It is tough. But I go to class as much as I can, take notes and do a lot of reading on my own.
Q: What is your focus for yourself heading back into football?
Putting a little weight back on and getting my legs in shape and get faster.
Q: What do you have to do to take the team to the next level?
As a team we need to continue to get stronger, faster and stronger. We need to get ready to go. Personally, I need to get back in shape. I have not touched weights a whole lot during baseball season. I just need to get back in shape and get ready
Q: How long does it take to get back in football shape? Three months and you are ready to go?
Ideally it is nice to have three months. Last year I had about three weeks. We went to the College World Series, I went home for a week just to relax. Then three weeks later we started camp. So it is nice to have the whole summer this year.
MY NOTE: During the Q&A with the fans one youngster asked about Gerhart’s yardage totals. When asked how many yards he would rush for this year, Gerhart did not pause, “2,000 yards.” Needless to say the response got a nice ovation.
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