Here’s some potential news that may seem as a shocker to many. According to some reports, Kyler Murray, the 2018 Heisman trophy winning Oklahoma quarterback and 1st round draft pick by the Oakland A’s, may enter the 2019 NFL Draft. For those who are not up to date with his baseball commitments, Murray was selected ninth overall by the A’s last year and signed a contract with the team that included a $4.66 million signing bonus. Oakland gave him the permission to finish his final year of football at Oklahoma. He is expected to enter spring training with the A’s this February and begin his baseball career with Class A-Advanced Stockton Ports. Reports also indicated that Murray will not become the next two-sport athlete and will choose between the two. The deadline to declare for the draft is Monday, January 14th.
You gotta wonder now if the A’s regret letting Murray play one last year of football. He goes out, puts up unbelievable numbers, leads his Sooners to the college football playoffs and wins the Heisman. It all sounds like the perfect ending to a football career, but it seems now Murray may be having a change of heart as to what passion he prefers to follow.
I’ve been following the responses by many on Twitter regarding these reports and all anyone can say is Murray would be making a drastic mistake choosing football over baseball. Not only would a career in baseball most likely lead to higher earnings with fully guaranteed contracts, baseball would allow Murray a longer career in terms of health and stability. Take a look at how Jeff Samardzija has done. A standout wide receiver and pitcher at Notre Dame, Samardzija chose baseball and, despite a subpar career, has netted approximately $83 million. There’s a strong possibility that had Samardzija chose football, his career earnings would not have been close to what he has earned in baseball and, now at age 33, would have been done with his football career. He is still signed with the San Francisco Giants through 2020 and is expected to make another $19.6 million in each of the next two seasons.
Then, you can look the other way at a guy like Jameis Winston, another Heisman trophy winner and two sport college stud. Winston chose football over baseball after playing both at Florida State. He was drafted #1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 draft and signed a four year/$23.35 million contract with a $16.7 million signing bonus. Winston has not fully lived up to his star potential. He’s suffered both a shoulder injury and suspension due to off field issues and had lost his starting position to journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick at various points of the 2018 season.
The idea that Murray should try to play both sports is interesting but I don’t think it’s plausible. Regardless of his talent on both fields and the athleticism he has, it’s recommended that Murray choose just one sport, but is he choosing the right one? Well, let’s look at another two sport star: the great Bo Jackson. As we all know, Bo was also a two sport athlete at Auburn University, winning the Heisman in 1985. He was the premier two sport athlete of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. An MLB All Star in 1989 and a NFL Pro Bowler the following year. Due to injury, Bo retired from football after the 1990 season and played another 3 years in baseball before retiring in 1994 at age 31 due to his lagging hip injury that ended his football career. Bo was asked years later that if he knew now how his careers in the two sports would turn out, he would have chose baseball alone. Bo has also said that with all the CTE scares in football today, he would never allow his children to play the game. I mean, if Murray wants some real life advice on the situation, Bo knows.
It’s important to note that even if he chooses to declare for the draft, it does not necessarily mean he will choose football over baseball. The A’s will retain his professional baseball rights if he chooses to play football first and go to baseball later, similar to Russell Wilson and the Colorado Rockies, who drafted Wilson and retained his baseball rights after he choose to play football. Those rights were later acquired in the 2013 Rule 5 draft by the Rangers and then traded to the Yankees in 2018, who currently own Wilson’s rights. But if Murray were to choose football over baseball, he would have to return his $4.66 million signing bonus back to the A’s. But then again, if he were to go in the 1st round in the draft, which would more than likely happen, his signing bonus there could be twice as high as that, but his overall contract would not be 100% guaranteed like it is in baseball. Like I said, it’s an interesting situation the reigning Heisman trophy winner has put himself in.
We can all speak our minds on what Kyler Murray should do, but at the end of the day it’s his decision. If Murray truly feels he’d rather play football than baseball, then I wish him nothing but the best of luck and hope he remains healthy for a long and prosperous NFL career. If he chooses baseball, I look forward to seeing him in a big league stadium in a few years. Either way, it will be an interesting start to 2019 for Kyler.
