Urban Meyer mourns the death of baseball legend Hank Aaron, shares unique story

Urban Meyer was amongst the chorus of people throughout sports who mourned the death of baseball icon Hank Aaron on Friday.

Meyer had a personal connection to Aaron from his baseball playing days with the Atlanta Braves.

Here’s the message Meyer sent out on Twitter:

RIP to a true gentleman @HenryLouisAaron it was an honor to spend some time with Mr. Aaron during my time playing in the Braves organization. Its bittersweet that the only autograph I have from Hank is my unconditional release from the team.

— Urban Meyer (@CoachUrbanMeyer) January 22, 2021

Meyer played for a pair of Braves minor league affiliates from 1982-83, which explains the connection. According to a 2015 Washington Post article, Aaron was the Braves’ farm director at the time.

So when injuries and a .182 lifetime average caused the Braves to cut Meyer loose, it was Aaron who signed the paperwork.

Aaron is No. 2 all-time in baseball history with 755 home runs and No. 1 all-time in RBI with 2,297.

Things worked out for Meyer, who re-surfaced as a high school coach in 1985. By 1986 he was a graduate assistant at Ohio State, and the rest is history.

Last week, Meyer agreed to become the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.