Reality check: Robert Redford's CU baseball career unpacked

• This was seemingly nothing new, as sources including CU's own alumni website, have reported that tidbit as fact for years.
• Redford's own Wikipedia page references him earning a "half scholarship."

Yes, but: After receiving inquiries Tuesday, CU officials on Wednesday told Axios Boulder they could not confirm Redford was ever on scholarship or played for CU.

• "We have no evidence to suggest that he received a baseball scholarship or ever played on the baseball team here," CU athletic department spokesperson Steve Hurlbert told us.
• CU did have a baseball program from 1890 to 1980, but Hurlbert said it was discontinued, citing budgetary reasons.

Behind the scenes: Hurlbert told Axios Boulder one theory behind the scholarship story is that it may have started by a publicist trying to drum up hype for Redford's 1984 baseball movie "The Natural."

• It appears the iconic actor's CU history was not the only thing exaggerated to hype his baseball credentials prior to the film: Redford may also have misrepresented his connection to LA Dodgers legend Don Drysdale, according to an LA Times report.

The fine print: It appears that Redford may have been under the impression he would eventually be able to get a baseball scholarship, even if it wasn't formally secured.

• In "Robert Redford: The Biography," author Michael Feeney Callan wrote that CU "offered the possibility of an eventual sports scholarship."
• "So it was a no-brainer: Colorado was baseball," Redford is quoted in the book.

The bottom line: As with all good legends, it appears this one is a mix of semantics, revisionist history and a kernel of truth.