As soon as he graduated high school, Jacob Hannemann was offered a full-tuition scholarship to play football for Brigham Young University as well as a spot on the Kansas City Royals baseball team.
But he turned both down.
Instead, Hannemann chose to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This choice meant that he would sacrifice two years of his life to live in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he would postpone his education, only talk to his family twice a year, and be unable to practice sports or maintain his rigorous training schedule. In other words, not only was his decision mission for his church passing up a once in a lifetime opportunity of playing professional baseball, Hannemann was choosing to face a future where that opportunity might not come again.
“This was the hardest decision of my life, up to that point,” Hannemann told The Daily Universe.
But Hannemann made that choice because he believed that the opportunity to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary was more valuable than his career.
Hannemann bats for BYU Cougars
When he returned home from his mission, Hannemann chose to forego the football scholarship BYU offered him and join the BYU baseball team. Immediately, Hannemann was a valuable player for the Cougars. He started all 51 games that season and had a .344 batting average, scoring five home runs.
Although Hannemann passed up an offer to play professional baseball, something that would be considered a once in a lifetime opportunity for most people, for Jacob Hanneman, this opportunity came more than once.
Hannemann and his wife had just settled down in South Carolina when they got a call inviting him to the Chicago Cubs double-A team, the Tennessee Smokies. He was offered a signing bonus of $1 million, something uncommon for anyone selected after the first round.
Although his decision to serve a mission has made him older than his competitors, he’s made a name for himself. He played 140 games last season and scored 15 home runs as well as batted 103 runs in for the Cubs.
Hannemann doesn’t regret his decisions and is looking forward to continuing to find success in sports. He said,
“When opportunities comes, it’s my responsibility to be ready for them.”
If his history is any indication, opportunity is going to come knocking again and he’s going to be ready for it.