SEATTLE — Jake Locker celebrated signing his first professional contract Saturday night by doing what he loves best.
Hours after signing a contract with the Los Angeles Angels, Locker was playing football.
The junior quarterback joined his University of Washington teammates for a Saturday night practice, and afterward Locker reiterated that his first love is the gridiron.
“Like I’ve always said, I came here to play football,” Locker said late Saturday night. “And I fully plan on doing that. (The baseball contract) is just a great opportunity, something I couldn’t pass up.”
While Locker did not want to get into the details of his contract with the Angels, the deal is reported to be a six-year contract that means Los Angeles owns his rights through 2015, should the Ferndale native decide to play baseball. He still intends to play out his final two years of eligibility as a Husky football player, and the NFL remains Locker’s main goal.
But Locker, a former baseball and football star at Ferndale High School, now has options should the football career not pan out.
“It’s just an opportunity that presented itself, and I didn’t think it would take away from football,” Locker said Saturday night, after the Huskies’ second of two practices that day.
Locker’s only baseball experience beyond high school was a stint with the Bellingham Bells summer-league team in 2008, when he had a batting average of .273 in 10 games, but the Angels saw enough potential in him as an outfielder that they took him in the 10th round of the June draft. Locker’s only commitment to the Angels is that he’ll play for them if he decides to pursue the sport before 2015.
“It’s good to have something that’s a done deal,” he said. “Now I don’t have to worry about it. I’m just looking forward to the (football) season now.”
Locker came to UW as one of the football program’s most ballyhooed recruits in recent memory but has yet to fulfill his potential in that sport. A thumb injury limited him to just eight games during the 2008 season, when the Huskies went 0-12. His career record as a starting quarterback is 4-13, and he has completed less than 50 percent of his passes.
The 6-foot-3, 226-pound Locker is one of the more athletic quarterbacks in the nation. Some scouts believe that he’s talented enough to play safety at the professional level.
And the Angels believe he’s talented enough to roam the outfield in their system one day. It just won’t be any day soon.
“I want to play football, and that’s what I’m going to put my focus on,” Locker said.
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