Letter to cat helps Houston high school quarterback pick Rice

A letter addressed to a cat may have been the deciding factor in getting a star high school football quarterback to commit to Rice.

JT Granato of The Kinkaid School was entertaining offers from Rice and Houston and had interest from multiple other schools, icluding Texas A&M, Maryland, TCU and Yale. Rice separated themselves from the pack when they sent a hand-written letter...to Granato's cat!

The note in the letter, which was addressed to 'Kitty Granato,' read 'Please help us get J.T. to choose Rice.' It then added, 'Paw me in case you have any questions.'

"I mean it was really funny honestly," Granato told ESPN.com. "It was just so crazy how hard they recruited me."

When asked about the cat's thoughts, Granato said: "She didn't care. She doesn't care about anything."

Rice is getting a quarterback who put up solid numbers en route to winning Texas' Southwest Preparatory Conference state championship last season. Granato threw for nearly 3,400 yards and 42 touchdowns.