KC Royals: Kyle Farnsworth Now Gets Sacks Instead Of Strikeouts

Does this four-eyed geek look like a meat-eating football wanna be? Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Orlando Phantoms coach Michael Torres told the story of Kyle Farnsworth joining his roster this way to the Detroit Free Press:

"“I called him, just like I called everybody that registered, to find out if they’ve played football before, that kind of thing,” Torres said. “He acted like he was just some random guy out of the blue. So I told him about the tryout, and we went from there, and he definitely earned his spot.”  “Our quarterback, Josh Rose, he used to play baseball, so he kind of knew the name, but he told me that he heard it and figured there was no way it was the same guy,” Torres said. “It was really only one of my coaches, Chris Barlow, myself, (offensive lineman) Steve (Cospito), one of my linebackers, Michael Boudreau, and that’s it.” “The dude is a great defensive end, and that’s the funny part,” Torres said. “He’s very rangy, he’s got some motor and he’s got the attitude. He comes to practice, he does his stuff, he’s very professional — and I expected that."

It’s surprising enough that a retired professional athlete didn’t get enough competition in 16 years of marjor-league baseball that he needed to scratch his football itch at age 39—especially a guy that risks breaking his neck when he already has $37 million.

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What’s surprising to me is that he’s good enough to rack up 10 sacks.

Did the NFL miss out on a guy that could have been a hell of a linebacker? Should Kyle Farnsworth have been paired with Tamba Hali and Jared Allen in the early 2000’s rather than letting hitters take him deep at Kauffman Stadium?

I guess we’ll never know.

But, maybe, Kyle Farnsworth’s football second life isn’t so strange after all. Maybe he just wants to come as close to finding out what it would be like to have played in the NFL as he can. Maybe the biggest difference between Kyle Farnsworth and you and I is that he has more athletic talent with which to play make believe.

Isn’t that the same thing that millions of fans do who obsessively watch the NFL Draft, and then spend hours poring over stats for their fantasy teams?

Don’t we all dream?

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