Houston high school quarterback J.T. Granato evidently is close with his cat.
We say "evidently" because Granato (6-foot-3, 198 pounds) has committed to Rice after Owls coaches wrote a letter to the cat asking for his help in getting Granato to pledge to his hometown school.
Yes, we're serious.
Granato, who will be a senior at The Kinkaid School this fall, chose Rice over Houston after he (or, rather, his cat, named White Sox) received a hand-written note from Owls coaches.
His father, John, told Houston TV station KRIV the family received an envelope addressed to "Kitty Granato." Inside was a note to the cat that said, in part, "Please help us to get him to choose us." The letter also said, "I know you'd like to keep him close so he can feed you and change the litter box."
John Granato -- who is a sports talk-show host on Houston radio station KGOW (1560-AM), which is the flagship station for Rice sports events -- said the note "sealed the deal" and posted this photo to his Twitter account:
J.T. Granato threw for 3,394 yards, 42 touchdowns and nine interceptions as a junior last season.
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.