Early Years
Caldwell was born in Tampa, Florida in 1979. He attended Jefferson High School in Tampa, where he was a three-sport standout in high school football, basketball and baseball for the Jefferson Dragons. In football, Caldwell started at tailback as a freshman; as a sophomore, he converted to quarterback—a position he had never played—and threw for 6,936 yards and seventy-seven touchdowns as a three-year starter. As a junior in 1996, he threw for 2,338 yards, led the Dragons to the Class 5A state semifinal game, earned high school All-American honors from PrepStar, and was named the Florida Class 5A Player of the Year. He was a first-team all-state selection in 1996 and a second-team selection in 1997.
In four high school baseball seasons, he set the Jefferson Dragons' career records for batting average (.379), doubles (25), triples (six), steals (67) and runs (76). The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the 1998 MLB Draft in 1998, but he decided to play college football instead.
Read more about this topic: Reche Caldwell
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