When it came to sports, Craig Fantin learned everything from his older brother, Rick.
He learned how to swing a baseball bat from both sides of the plate.
He learned how grip a football and send a tight spiral zipping through the air.
And he learned how to prove his coach wrong when the chance presented itself.
"I remember when he was going in as a freshman, and I was the freshman football coach at Gavit," Rick Fantin said. "In eighth grade, he was the starting quarterback and he was just kind of awful. He threw a lot of interceptions because he was too short, and he couldn't see over the line.
"I remember I told my parents, 'He's not going to be a quarterback because I saw how he did in eighth grade, so I'm just gonna put him at tight end.' Well, we played two games and the two quarterbacks I picked weren't doing too hot. They couldn't even do simple handoffs. Finally, I told my brother, 'Get in there and play quarterback.' And I'll tell you what, the offense was moving after that. I said, 'Ah, you're our quarterback.'"
The rest is history. The younger Fantin brother became one of the Region's top passing threats during the early 1990s before continuing his football career at Valparaiso University. On Tuesday, another chapter will be added to his legacy when he's inducted into the Hammond Sports Hall of Fame.
School of hard knocks
By the time Fantin was 4 years old, he was a switch-hitting prodigy. He was also a hard-nosed kid because he had no other choice. Back-yard football games with Rick, who's eight years older, and the other big boys in the neighborhood ensured Fantin became tough.
"My brother taught me everything growing up," Fantin said. "He gave up a lot to help me when I was younger. He would pitch to me. Instead of hanging out with his friends, he was out in the back behind our house teaching me how to be a switch hitter, throw the ball and work with me on catching.
"And when he'd play football with his friends, he would take me with. Even though I was the smallest guy and I'd get beat up every once in a while, he'd still take me with and make me stay out there even though I probably wanted to go home."
All of Fantins' bumps and bruises eventually paid off. He became Gavit's starting quarterback as a sophomore and guided the Gladiators to a 9-2 record. Gavit stumbled to a 3-7 record when Fantin was a junior, but it rebounded the following season with an 8-2 mark and its second Indiana Lake Shore Conference title in three seasons.
Fantin garnered all-conference and all-state honors in football. He was also a standout third baseman who earned Times all-area and all-conference recognition for his role in the Gladiators' back-to-back sectional baseball championships. In 1993, the year he graduated high school, Fantin was named Gavit's Male Athlete of the Year.
"When the going got tough, he had a great deal of poise as an individual as far as keeping his head together in tight situations," said Rob Hanson, Fantin's football coach at Gavit. "And really quite honestly, he got excited about those situations. He was a pressure guy. He was somebody you wanted out there in those situations."
Persevering at next level
Toward the end of his prep career, Fantin suffered his fair share of injuries. He broke his collarbone in the Gladiators' final regular-season game of the 1992 football season, forcing him to the sidelines in the postseason. Then during the 1993 baseball season, Fantin hurt his elbow on his throwing arm and was never the same.
"I ended up having surgery going into my freshman year (of college), so I actually had to redshirt," said Fantin, who's now the Dean of Students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School. "It never really healed completely, and we had a good quarterback (at VU). I wanted to find a way onto the field. One day I said, 'What else can I do to get onto the field, whether it's on special teams or something?' (The coaches said), 'We need some guys at (tight end). Do you want to try it out?' I said, 'Sure.'"
Fantin's transition to tight end became a success, and in 1997, he served as a captain for the Crusaders. Some, though, still wondered what type of quarterback he would have been in college.
"Trust me, in those meetings I kept bucking for him to be a quarterback again, but (former VU) coach Tom Horne had a different plan in his offense," said Hanson, who joined VU's staff as a defensive line coach in 1996 after stints at Gavit and Highland. "I always told him, 'You've got a heck of a quarterback there at tight end if you want to do something with that guy.' I was always saying that stuff, but he performed quite well as a tight end. He was a captain of that group. They voted him in, and that's they type of leadership he had at that level."
Fantin's ability to persevere was one of the many reasons Hanson chose to nominate the 34-year-old Crown Point resident for induction into the Hammond Sports HOF.
"This is the Hammond Hall of Fame, and he deserves the right to be a very important part of it," Hanson said. "He took his abilities and transferred them into another level of competition. He made the transition from quarterback to tight end and was extremely successful playing another position at that high level."
SUNDAY SPECIAL | HAMMOND SPORTS HALL OF FAME
24th annual Hammond Sports HOF induction dinner
Where: Hammond Civic Center.
When: Tuesday -- begins at 5 p.m.; dinner at 6:30 p.m.; induction ceremony at 7:30 p.m.
Inductees: Carol Core; Eugene "Peanuts" Demkovich; Craig Fantin; Lisa (Johnsen) Howard; Joe Kaminski; Rich Nemcek; Dana Romans-Oldendorf; Marvin Willis.
Tickets: Single tickets for $20 or tables of eight for $160 on sale at the Hammond Civic Center, Rich's Barber Shop, House of Pizza, Coaches Corner, Cheers in Munster, Purdue University Calumet athletic office, Calumet College of St. Joseph, Cavalier Inn, Jean Shepherd Community Center and all Hammond high school athletic departments.
Craig Fantin's career stats
College football
(Valparaiso University tight end, special teams)
1997: 14 catches, 162 yd., 0 TD
1996: 11 catches, 107 yd., 2 TDs, one tackle
1995: three catches, 22 yd., 0 TD, seven tackles
High school football
(Gavit quarterback, punter)
1992: 1,250 yd., 6 TDs passing; three TDs rushing; 34 yd. punting avg.
1991: 1,400 yd., 13 TDs passing; four TDs rushing; 34 yd. punting avg.
1990: 1,625 yd., 17 TDs passing; 2 TDs rushing
High school baseball
(Gavit third baseman, pitcher)
1993: .333 batting avg., 25 RBIs; 2-1 pitching
1992: .409 batting avg., 41 RBIs; 3-0 pitching
1991: .325 batting avg., 20 RBIs
