By Adam Zuvanich | AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Quan Cosby used to chase down fly balls, swing a bat and try to stretch doubles into triples.

Now he catches fastballs from Colt McCoy, makes blocks downfield and tries to turn short completions into long gains.

The biggest difference? Cosby was still at the Class A level after four seasons as a minor league baseball player, and he won a national championship in his first season playing major college football.

Cosby

“I’m just glad to see the decision he made to go play college football has worked out for him,” said Los Angeles Angels general manager Tony Reagins, who was the club’s minor league director when Cosby played in the Angels’ farm system from 2001-04.

Since helping Texas win the national title as a freshman in 2005, Cosby has become one of the most productive wide receivers the Longhorns have had. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior ranks among the school’s all-time leaders in career receptions (176), receiving yards (2,163), touchdown catches (13) and all-purpose yards (4,232), and he and McCoy hold the UT record for most completions between a quarterback and receiver (155).

At one point, Reagins hoped Cosby would have just as much success with the Angels, who made him a sixth-round draft choice out of Mart High School in 2001. Cosby signed a five-year contract with an $825,000 signing bonus – more money than most second-round picks were offered that year – and the switch-hitting center fielder once was tabbed by Baseball America as the fastest baserunner in the Angels’ farm system.

The Angels also liked Cosby’s mental makeup.

“Being a young guy coming out of high school, his maturity level was beyond his years,” Reagins said. “… He was very professional, very smart and was a great businessman for a young guy coming out of high school.”

Cosby was fairly productive at the rookie and Class A levels, batting .260 in 340 career games with 212 runs scored and 71 stolen bases in 101 attempts. He batted .302 with 22 steals for rookie-league Provo (Utah) in 2002, and in 2004 with Class A Cedar Rapids (Iowa), Cosby led the Midwest League with 12 triples.

Texas receiver Quan Cosby once led the Midwest League with 12 triples, but he's found more even more success on the football field.

But he also struck out 263 times in his minor league career and had a .326 on-base percentage, which aren’t ideal numbers for a slap hitter with speed.

“He was making progress, but he was not on that fast track,” Reagins said. “… He was probably a good three or four years away from reaching the major leagues.”

Reagins said Cosby also wasn’t enjoying himself as a baseball player and still had an itch to play football, so he negotiated a release from his contract. Cosby then contacted a handful of college football programs, including Texas, which had signed him out of high school and promised to honor his scholarship offer if baseball didn’t pan out.

And because Cosby had a dual-sport contract with the Angels and never hired an agent, he maintained his NCAA eligibility.

“I just don’t believe in doing anything if your heart isn’t there, and that’s basically what it came down to,” Cosby told the Los Angeles Times shortly before the 2006 Rose Bowl. “I wanted to catch footballs and throw the football around more than I wanted to go take (batting practice), and everybody loves to take BP. That’s when I knew.”

Reagins said he keeps in touch with Cosby and considers him a friend, and that Cosby and the Angels “parted ways on very good terms.” Reagins also has followed Cosby’s career at Texas and praises his ability both as a receiver and downfield blocker.

Bobby Magallanes, who was Cedar Rapids’ manager in 2004, also has kept tabs on Cosby’s football career.

“I have seen him play a couple of times on TV, and he really has impressed me,” Magallanes said in an e-mail. “He has great athleticism and is a great athlete. He’s a very committed player, and I knew he would succeed at whatever he put his heart and passion into.”

Cosby said he uses some of his baseball skills on the football field, which was evident in last week’s game against Oklahoma State. He caught a TD pass as he was falling back and shielding his eyes from the sun, much like a center fielder would do.

The 25-year-old Cosby, who is married with two children, said his time as a professional athlete also has given him a unique perspective as a college player.

“I think it has helped me my whole career as far as gauging the ball, fighting the sun and different things like that,” he said earlier this week. “The more mature you are, it definitely helps you out with all the hype and stuff, because you just don’t worry about it.”