From Dr. K to Dr. Sack?
Doc Gooden’s son is moving up the athletic ladder, but in a different sport than his father. Dylan Gooden, a senior at Wilde Lake High School in Maryland, on Wednesday officially signed his NCAA Letter of Intent to play football at the University of Maryland beginning next school year.
“I’m glad he is making his own name, his own path,” Dwight Gooden said Sunday at “Pinstripe Pride” at American Dream in East Rutherford, N.J., where he and Yankees icons signed autographs for fans. “I told him he’s got to work hard. The difference between a good player and a great player is in practices and games: What are you doing to make yourself better?”
Dylan is a 6-foot-4 edge rusher whom ESPN rated as a four-star recruit and the 28th-ranked defensive end in the country. The son of baseball royalty chose Maryland over schools such as Penn State and Rutgers.
Dylan also is a high school basketball star, but Dwight believes he is best at football. Dwight couldn’t get his son to see baseball the way he does.
“He played baseball, said baseball was boring, which I don’t understand,” said Gooden, the former Mets and Yankees star and Cy Young winner.
Gooden raved about his son but did not want to say he would be a future NFL player. He has told Dylan that “under 1 percent” of college players graduate to the pros.
“Worst thing that happens is you get a free education,” Gooden said.