The band Florida Georgia Line almost didn't happen. The game of baseball almost stopped the 2015 Billboard Music Awards 'Top Country Artist' winners from forming.

Most everyone knows my love for the game of baseball, and now I have a new love for Florida Georgia Line [web]. Kelley's dream of playing baseball wasn't just some pipe dream created by some young kid swinging for the fences in the backyard. He had skills.

In a recent interview with the Atlantic City Weekly, Brian Kelley did have dreams playing in front of large crowds. It just wasn't on stage singing songs. His dream was playing professional baseball.

Brian Kelley (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
Brian Kelley (Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
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Kelley was a stud high school pitcher. Kelley was voted to the Florida Sports Writers Association 2004 High School Class 4A Team, and he was named the Orlando Sentinel and Daytona Beach News Journal Volusia County Player of the Year. The school principal even selected Kelley to be inducted into the school's Hall of Fame based on character, community service and academics. Just just some of the accolades he earned while on the field.

He even landed a baseball scholarship, which are very hard to get, to Florida State University [web]. That's when the idea of playing professional baseball.

“That dream kind of ended for me when I didn’t get drafted,” Kelley told the Atlantic City Weekly [web] “But I was already thinking I should write songs. I couldn’t sit in class without writing down a song or an idea, same thing when I was out shagging balls in left field.”

So Kelley decided to transfer to Belmont University where he eventually met Florida Georgia Line band mate Tyler Hubbard. The rest, as they say, is history.

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