Is Oregon's Tim Tawa the top all-around athlete in high school sports?

Video: High school's best all-around athlete?
A look at Tim Tawa and his stellar skills.

The nearly 100-mile drive from his home in Eugene to West Linn (Ore.) has been a little soggy lately for football coach Chris Miller. And it has nothing to do with typical Pacific Northwest showers.

"I must admit I've shed multiple tears thinking about the season-ending banquet," Miller said. "We've spent a lot of time together over the last couple years and he's as special a young man as I've ever met or coached."

Miller was talking about his prized pupil, senior quarterback Tim Tawa, who has shattered the Oregon state record for career touchdown passes, now at 125, beating the mark of 106. He's thrown just 10 career interceptions.

The chiseled 6-foot, 182-pounder has put up impeccable numbers this season — 187 of 274 for 2,526 yards, 37 touchdowns, one interception and a 135.4 rating — to punctuate remarkable career stats (643 of 932 for 9,889 yards, 138.9 rating) and a 30-5 team record.

All that is missing is a state crown after losing in last year's 6A final to Jesuit (Portland), 21-14. The Lions are 9-0 and ranked No. 1 overall in the state so far this season.

"If we can finish this thing off with a state title, he'll undoubtedly go down as the greatest quarterback in state history," Miller said. "No doubt about it."

It's important to note that this Chris Miller is same Chris Miller who played 10 seasons at quarterback in the NFL and was the 13th selection overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 1987. Miller threw for almost 7,000 yards at the University of Oregon, was selected into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2005 and yes, starred as a prep in the state at Sheldon (Ore.).

For Miller to say Tawa should go down as the state's greatest is akin to Magic Johnson calling Kobe Bryant the greatest Los Angeles Lakers player.

But here's the kicker: Football is Tawa's second best-sport.

America's best all-around athlete?
He was offered, and gladly accepted, a baseball scholarship to Stanford as a sophomore. A shortstop for West Linn, he's projected to be one of the top five high school outfielders taken in the June Major League Baseball Draft.

Add in the fact that the straight-A student is also a scratch golfer, has booted 60-yard field goals in practice and has collected a couple of state basketball titles as probably the state's best reserve point guard (he played behind current University of Oregon freshman Payton Pritchard), Tawa may also lay claim to another lofty distinction:

The nation's top all-around athlete.

"There's not much athletically he can't do," Miller said. "He can flat-out run. His arm is strong and very accurate. He has a very quick release. He's obviously a great student of the game. He knows what every player on the field is doing. He can beat you so many ways."

Miller is a pretty fair evaluator of athleticism, considering he himself was a three-sport standout. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays and until he hurt his knee, basketball was his No. 1 sport.

He compared Tawa to Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, who was also considered a baseball player first at the same stage.

"If you look at their body types at the same stage they're very similar," Miller said. "Very athletic, very strong arms, can really move."

Another former NFL quarterback, Trent Dilfer, also thinks Tawa has great potential. He worked out Tawa for 90 minutes as a seventh-grader and told his father that if he grew to 6-feet tall, "he could play on Sundays."

He wasn't talking church leagues.

Despite those critiques, all the numbers, his love for the game, the position, and several Division I offers, Tawa said these are his final days taking snaps. It's not easy to think about, but baseball and a Stanford education is simply too hard to pass up.

"I can't believe it's almost over," Tawa said by phone Monday. "It feels like yesterday I was a freshman. I'm soaking in every moment, like each is my last. I play with a great bunch of guys. Coach Miller has made a huge impact on my life. All of our lives. I'm just thankful for it all."

My left foot

Perhaps more than the athletic gene — his father John played a little college basketball and mom Lisa played high school soccer and later ran marathons — Tawa was born a perfectionist, honing his physical gifts in a relentless and meticulous manner.

His dad recalled a rare weekend day the busy Tawa family had free. The options were endless. A movie? Bowling? A bike ride? Young Tawa, age 6 at the time, picked a day at the park but not to fly a kite.

"He wanted to play soccer," his dad said. "He said he wanted to work on his left foot, which he thought needed some work. … That's just the type of kid he is. He's intense. He loves to practice."

His detailed work ethic served him well in all endeavors. The classroom. All athletic fields. He led a West Linn youth baseball team to the Cal Ripken World Series as a fourth-grader, hitting two home runs his final two at-bats.

He didn't hit any homers as a freshman and vowed things would be different as a sophomore. The first pitch he saw that season, he launched out of the park. Later that day, he dunked a basketball for the first time.

But things weren't perfect.

Hard to crack

Later that spring, his throwing error led to the losing run in the state championship game.

"I don't like to talk about that but sure, I think about it," he said. "We lost in the state title football game last year when we had a good chance to win. Those are regrets, but I've definitely learned from them and I think it's made me a better and stronger person."

Miller sees that, especially socially. Perfectionists are hard to crack. They tend to be introverted and terribly hard on themselves. Tawa is no exception.

"It's been fun to see his personality evolve – see him laughing more with teammates and students," Miller said. "Socially he's definitely found his niche. He's still serious and highly motivated and driven. But he's enjoying social life more. That's great to see."

Tawa credits all his success to his parents and teammates. He's trying not to get too sentimental.

"I'm trying to block out that I have a maximum of five football games left in my entire life," he said. "Football and my teammates and friends have been such a big part of my life. It's all going away soon, but that's just part of life. Hopefully it all ends with a state championship."