In 2000, he won the batting title with a .372 average, and also led MLB with a .698 slugging percentage, 59 doubles, and 147 RBI and the National League with 216 hits.

In baseball, as a senior, Helton posted a .655 batting average and 12 home runs and was named the Regional Player of the Year.

Entering his junior season in 1994, he was the back-up to senior Jerry Colquitt and ahead of Peyton Manning (then a true freshman).

[6] Helton appeared in 12 games during his career with the Vols football team, completing 41 of 75 passes for 484 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions.

[13][14][15] Helton was the eighth overall pick of the 1995 Major League Baseball draft, selected in the first round by the Colorado Rockies,[16] and signed on August 1, 1995.

[16] He spent the next two years in the minor leagues, playing for the class-A Asheville Tourists, AA New Haven Ravens, and AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox before moving up to the majors.

[2][17] He started in left field, flied out in his first at-bat, singled in his next time up off Francisco Córdova, and hit a solo home run off Marc Wilkins.

When Rockies first baseman Andrés Galarraga went to the Atlanta Braves in 1998, Helton became the full-time starter at first base for Colorado during the 1998 season.

[2] Helton finished second to Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs in the voting for National League Rookie of the Year.

[2] Helton and Walker made the Rockies the first team in MLB history to record percentage triple crowns in consecutive seasons with different players.

[2] Helton became only the fourth player in National League history to lead the NL in both batting average and RBI.

[2] He became the first player in National League history and the fifth player in MLB history (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx and Hank Greenberg are the others) to have at least 200 hits, 40 home runs, 100 RBI, 100 runs, 100 extra base hits and 100 walks in one season.

[2] Helton was also given the team-honored version of the Roberto Clemente Man of Year Award, for his community contributions to Eastern Tennessee.

[22] For all of his success, the Colorado Rockies rewarded Helton with a nine-year, $141.5 million contract in April 2001 that took effect in 2003.

[2] Furthermore, Helton attained 402 total bases, making him only the fourth player in MLB history to do so in consecutive seasons (Chuck Klein, Gehrig and Foxx are the others).

[2] He won his first Gold Glove at first base and was once again a top candidate for MVP, but was overshadowed by Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds.

[2] He became only the third player in MLB history to accomplish that feat during any seven-year stretch in a career (Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth are the others).

[2] Helton was named to his team-record fifth consecutive All-Star game and won his third Gold Glove during the season.

However, he did end up joining Gehrig and Bill Terry as the only first basemen in MLB history to have at least a .315 batting average in eight consecutive seasons.

[2] Also in 2005, St. Louis Cardinals radio broadcaster Wayne Hagin claimed manager Don Baylor said that Helton had "tried the juice" in the 1990s, implying steroid use.

[18] Helton finished third on the Rockies roster in 2006 in runs (94), hits (165), doubles (40), total bases (260) and multi-hit games (42).

[32] Helton made what was arguably the most pivotal play of the Rockies' 2007 season in the second game of a doubleheader against the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 18.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs and two strikes, Helton hit an emotional two-run walk-off home run off Dodgers closer Takashi Saito.

[33] The home run kept the Rockies alive in the bid to win the wild card or National League West title.

[35] Helton hit a triple in the first pitch of his first career playoff at-bat in the opening game against the Phillies at Philadelphia.

[39] In August 2008, Helton was diagnosed with a degenerative back condition, putting his health and ability to continue play in question.

[42] Helton also joined Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams as the only players in MLB history to have at least 500 doubles, 320 home runs and a .325 batting average for a career.

[47] After returning from the DL, Helton played only 6 games before announcing that he would have season-ending hip surgery in order to prepare for the 2013 season.

[54] On April 9, 2022, Helton was hired by the Colorado Rockies to serve as a special assistant to the general manager, joining Vinny Castilla and Clint Hurdle in the role.