Jeff Samardzija

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**Jeff Samardzija**

Chicago Cubs — No. 50
Pitcher
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Record	0-0
ERA	0.00
Strikeouts	0

Jeffrey Alan Samardzija (born January 23, 1985 in Merrillville, Indiana) is an American baseball player as a pitcher with the Tennessee Smokies, the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. He is also a former American football player as a wide receiver at the University of Notre Dame. Samardzija majored in marketing.

1 Early years
2 College years
3 Professional career
4 Personal
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early years

Samardzija grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana where he attended Valparaiso High School, and was a letterman in football, basketball, and baseball. In football, he was a three-time first team All-State honoree, and was twice named the team's Most Valuable Player. After his senior year, he was invited to participate in the Indiana football All-Star game. In baseball, he was a first team All-State honoree. Samardzija graduated from Valparaiso High School in 2003 with a 3.40 GPA. Athletics were something of the norm early in Jeff's life. Father Sam Samardzija was a semi-pro hockey player, and older brother Sam Jr. was also an All State football and baseball player for Valparaiso High School.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] College years

Jeff made his first impact at Notre Dame as a right-handed pitcher for the baseball team, finishing second in the Big East Conference in both ERA (2.95) and opponents' batting average (.209), and being named a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball Magazine. He continued to play baseball at Notre Dame until he was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round (149th overall) of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.

In football, he was a reserve for his first two seasons, catching a total of 24 passes. He first started at the 2005 Insight Bowl at the end of his sophomore season. He emerged as a star in the 2005 season, ending the regular season with 77 catches, 15 of them for touchdowns, for 1215 yards and making numerous All-America Teams.

He set single-season school records in both receiving yardage and touchdown receptions. Samardzija also caught a TD pass in each of Notre Dame's first eight games in 2005, giving him the school record for consecutive games with a TD reception. Samardzija made 78 catches for 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns in 13 games in the 2006 season to finish as the all-time Fighting Irish leader in reception yards with 2,593.^[1] He also made the Football Writers Association of America All-America Team following the 2006 season.

Jeff was selected as one of the three finalists for the Fred Biletnikoff Award, for the nation's top wide receiver. Although initially planning on trying to play both in the NFL and MLB, Samardzija announced after being selected in the Major League Draft that he would take his name out of the NFL Draft and play baseball.

Pitching for the Chicago Cubs's Short Season Class A minor league team, Boise, Samardzija boasted a 2.37 ERA and a 1-1 record in the summer of 2006. He was then promoted to the Cubs' Low Class A affiliate, Peoria, later that summer. Samardzija went 0-1 with a 3.27 ERA in 11 innings at Peoria, before he returned to Notre Dame to practice football for his senior season.^[2]

[edit] Professional career

On January 19, 2007, Samardzija announced he would forego the National Football League Draft and commit to a baseball career. Samardzija signed a five-year deal to play baseball full-time, starting with the Chicago Cubs. The deal has a no-trade clause and a club option for a sixth and seventh year. If the club option is exercised, the total value of the deal would be $16.5 million. [1] He was speculated to be a first round prospect in the 2006 NFL Draft by Mel Kiper, Jr. but Peter Gammons on ESPN stated that Samardzija had the potential to be a starting pitcher in baseball.^{[citation needed]}

Samardzija started the season pitching for Single A Daytona. The right-hander went 3-8 with a 4.95 ERA. He was called up to AA Tennessee on August 3rd 2007. He made six starts with a 3-3 record with a 3.41 ERA.^[3] ^[4].

"The numbers, obviously, I'm not too happy about them," Samardzija said. "But I look at the whole season. I learned from it. The middle of the season, I got a little down. It was good to learn from, and to learn how to quickly fix things. I was very happy with how the season ended."

Even though Samardzija had passed on the NFL, there was some speculation that he would be drafted in the late rounds of the 2007 NFL Draft in case he should change his mind. However, he was not drafted and is therefore considered a Free Agent by the NFL.

[edit] Personal

Samardzija's fans, peers, and coaches affectionately nicknamed him "Shark" during his career at Notre Dame. [2] Samardzija is good friends with Tom Zbikowski, one of his collegiate teammates and former roommate.