Can Kyler Murray become the next Bo Jackson?

The rise and fall of the two sport athlete

5 min readJan 12, 2019

Kyler Murray is one of the most gifted athletes of this era. He is wanted by not one, but two professional sports leagues. Which one he chooses will impact the rest of his life forever. But what if he didn’t have to choose?

Kyler Murray was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the 9th overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. Murray signed a contract which earned him a $4.66 million signing bonus as well as allowed him to play one more season of colligate football for the University of Oklahoma.

Before the 2018 college football season started, it seemed that Murray had already decided that his future lay in baseball. Since then, he has insisted that his plans have not changed, even though his NFL prospects have. In the past five months, the 21 year old has gained national attention as a college football superstar by guiding the Sooners to a 12–1 record and a spot in the college football playoff (where they would lose to Alabama). This season, he threw for 4,361 yards and ran for 1,000. He threw 42 touchdown passes and rushed for 12. Because of his ability to both run and throw, Murray is one of the most lethal dual threat quarterbacks ever. He also won the Heisman Trophy in December for his exceptional season. And, despite not focusing entirely on baseball at Oklahoma, he batted just a shade under .300, belted 10 home runs, and stole 19 bases in his sophomore season.

Murray declared for the 2019 NFL draft the day of the deadline. But, this decision doesn’t lock him into a future with the NFL. He still has time to negotiate a new contract with the Athletics that would keep him on the diamond instead of on the gridiron. If Murray shows up to Athletic’s Spring Training on February 15, he has chosen baseball. If he doesn’t show up, he has chosen football.

Two sport athletes have had success before and in an ideal world, Kyler Murray could play both baseball and football at the highest level. However, with the rigors of professional sports today and the wary nature of owners, it is nearly impossible for one person to play in two different sports leagues. While it has been done before, it hasn’t been done with success for a long time. However, 30 years was a different story.

Bo Jackson was born on November 20, 1962 in Bessemer, Alabama. He attended Auburn University where he would be one of the best running backs the school has ever had. He won the Heisman Trophy for his phenomenal senior season where he rushed for almost 1,800 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was considered the consensus number one draft pick prior to the draft, a pick was held by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, Jackson had told Buccaneers that if there were to draft him, he’d refuse to play. The Buccaneers proceeded anyway and true to his word, Jackson refused to play for the franchise. Instead, he would play for the Kansas City Royal’s organization which drafted him in the fourth round of the MLB draft that same year.

After less than a season in the minor leagues, Jackson debuted in the major leagues on September 2, 1986. At this point in his career, Jackson seemed fully committed to baseball. However, the Los Angeles Raiders thought they could lure him back to football and drafted him in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL draft. It worked and Jackson negotiated a contract that would allow him to play both football and baseball professionally.

Over Jackson’s nine year MLB career (1986–1994), he would finish with a .250 average, 141 Home Runs, and 415 Runs Batted In. On the other hand, Jackson’s NFL career would be cut short by a hip injury and only last 4 years (1987–1990). This was still long enough for Jackson to make an impact in the NFL, even making the Pro Bowl in 1990. Because of this injury, Jackson remains one of the biggest “what if?” stories in professional sports.

It was the same hip injury that also had major implications in his baseball career. Instead of allowing him time to rehab, the Royals released him. The Chicago White Sox signed him after, but he would only play around a 100 games over the course of two years. He would retire in 1994 with the California Angeles, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family. Jackson had his best MLB seasons before his football injury, specifically in 1989 when he made the American League All-Star team. He was even named the game’s MVP for his spectacular play on both offense and defense.

To this day, Bo Jackson is the only athlete in history to be named an All-Star in both baseball and football. Because of his ability to excel in two very different sports, many consider him one of the greatest athletes of all time. It is unrealistic to expect Kyler Murray to reach these heights in both professional football and professional baseball. However, he has the potential to be a transcendent talent in one of the other.

The question for Murray now is, should be play baseball for the Athletics, or scrap those plans and try to be the NFL’s next superstar quarterback. If you had Murray’s talents, which choice would you make? I think you all know where I stand.

Will Kyler Murray become a baseball treasure one day?

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