Miles Teller Jokes He Went into 'D1 Acting' Instead of Becoming a Professional Baseball Player

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Miles Teller may be known as a beloved actor with hit movies like Whiplash and Top Gun: Maverick, but he once toyed with the idea of going a different route entirely and becoming a professional baseball player.

The actor, 35, recently spoke to PEOPLE about his love of sports, namely baseball, and what his career path could've been.

"I played [baseball] in high school, but I was pretty small," Teller, who partnered with eBay for the launch of its new eBay vault, tells PEOPLE with a laugh. " I didn't hit my growth spurt till my senior year, and then after high school."

"So I say I went D1 acting instead, because I went to [NYU's Tisch School of the Arts]," adds the Spectacular Now star.

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For Teller, his love of baseball "coincided" with his love of collecting sports cards, both of which were inspired by two very important family members.

"It's something that my dad passed on to me and my grandma, my dad's [mom]," the Pennsylvania native explains. "She was the biggest Phillies fan that there was, so I inherited that gene from her."

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Teller says that his fondness for baseball offered him a way to connect with his loved ones, and is something that remains important to him to this day.

"I think for a lot of kids, especially when you're at a young age, you pick the things where you can really bond with an adult over. When I was a young kid, I wasn't sharing stories of philosophy and this and that, it was baseball. It seems like a simple game, but it's endless," he says. "And my fandom for it, as far as collecting things associated with the game, has remained a part of it for me."

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Over the weekend, Teller brought his love of baseball and sports trading cards to the forefront when he checked out the new eBay vault ahead of the MLB's All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.

Joined by former MLB All-Star Chase Utley, Teller created his ultimate "Vault Star Lineup" — a selection of five rare and high-value baseball trading cards that he purchased live in front of guests that are valued at more than $25,000. The cards are now stored within the climate-controlled and insured vault that is protected with 24-hour security.

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Teller's picks include rookie cards from Mike Trout, Ken Griffey Jr. and Willie Mays, among others.

"It's very exciting to attach myself and to be a part of this with eBay and the eBay Vault," Teller says. "Buying and selling and collecting and trading cards is something that I grew up doing — it was something that my dad and I bonded over — and I've certainly made a fair amount of purchases on eBay."