As we keep an eye on the current and prospective two-sport stars, here's a look back at the incredible athletes who have already starred in both baseball and football. Murray's baseball talent earned him the A's ninth overall choice in the 2018 Draft, and he is the team's No. 4 prospect heading into 2019.
He was also selected by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Murray will likely not be able to pitch for the Athletics until after 2020 when his five-year contract with Oakland expires. He'll have to wait until then to show what kind of hitter he can be with the Yankees.
Currently, there are only four other people who have played baseball at a high level of competition and football as well: Carl Brumbaugh, George Cristgau, Larry Doby and Alan Trammell.
Brumbaugh played baseball at Kansas State University from 1928 to 1932 before going on to have a very successful career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears. He was a first-team All-American in both 1930 and 1931 before helping lead the Browns to the AAFC Championship in 1933. He ended up winning the inaugural NFL Championship against the Chicago Bears that year.
Cristgau played quarterback at Michigan State University from 1946 to 1949 before becoming a professional baseball player with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950.
It's difficult to pick the best two-sport athletes.
Other big league teams, notably the Los Angeles Dodgers, have begun to test some of their prospects as two-way players, including Anthony Gose, Brett Eibner, and Trey Ball. There are few two-way players in the National Football League (NFL), as most offensive players do not play defense and vice versa. However, certain positions may call for a player to be a two-way player such as quarterback or linebacker.
Two-way players can help their teams in multiple ways. They can fill gaps on both sides of the ball, which can leave other positions open for other players to claim. These players can also serve as valuable backups, especially at key positions like quarterback or linebacker where injuries can occur at any time.
In addition to Dodger Stadium, several other major league stadiums have natural or artificial turf fields that are able to be used as backup fields when necessary. These backup fields can allow regular fielders to rest during games, which helps them remain ready for action if needed later in the game or season.
There are only a few spots on an NFL team for more than one player to be from the same family, so most families can only hope that one young person gets drafted and makes it into the league. But since 1992, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have had at least one cousin duo selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. Both David Terrell and Chris Doleman were chosen by the Bucs with picks 2 and 61, respectively.
Not every athlete is an all-around athlete, and not every athlete has the mental capacity to compete in many sports. However, these 13 professionals were either talented enough to be recruited in more than one sport or switched sports after retiring from their first. Which one is your favorite?
An athlete can choose to play only one sport in their life. However, some athletes are talented enough that they are recruited by different schools/leagues in different sports. These are called multi-sport stars. It does not matter what order you list them in, since everyone's definition of a star is different: some like to win, others look at numbers of games played or minutes on the court/field. Here are the 13 multi-sport stars who played in multiple decades:
John "Jack" Barry - American basketball player (1926-1950) who played for the Boston Celtics of the NBA for five seasons. He also played baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945 when it was getting ready to move to Los Angeles.
Kurt Biederkehr - German soccer player who played as a midfielder for Bayern Munich and Germany between 1955 and 1970. He also represented West Germany in the 1972 Olympics.
Eddie Biedelman - American basketball player who played for several teams including the Philadelphia Warriors and Baltimore Bullets of the NBA.
Russell Wilson has a baseball and football background. From 2008 to 2010, the athlete competed in two sports for North Carolina State University before moving to the University of Wisconsin. In 2010, he was a member of the Tri-City Dust Devils, and in 2011, he was a member of the Asheville Tourists. In 2012, he started playing football for the Wisconsin Badgers and continued with them until 2016. Today, he is a starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks.
Athletes can play multiple sports during their career. Some do so as a matter of interest or because they want to expand their experience. Others do so because they're paid to do so by a professional team. Still others do so because they're successful at several sports and want to continue this success into another sport or even a different profession.
Some athletes who have competed in both sports include: John Elway (football player/wrestler), Barry Sanders (football player/track and field athlete), and Russell Wilson (football player/baseball player).
An athlete can compete in multiple sports throughout their career.
Most go on to other clubs, but a select number have spent their whole careers in New York. Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, and Mariano Rivera are three of the most well-known names, but Joe DiMaggio has to be the finest of those names. He was among the first 20 players chosen in the 1946 baseball draft by the New York Yankees, making him one of only four men in history to play for the same team from '-' until today. The other three are Ted Williams, Mel Ott, and Carl Yastrzemski.
Jeter has been with the Yankees since he came up through their system in 1992. He is now considered one of the best shortstops in baseball and has won two World Series titles with them. Although he has announced that he will retire after this season, there is still hope that he will change his mind.
Mantle and DiMaggio were both center fields for the Yankees. Mantle died at age 48 after suffering from chronic kidney disease for several years. DiMaggio retired after breaking his leg in 1999 and had been working as a television analyst since then. However, he might come out of retirement if the Yankees need him to fill in for an injured player.
There have been rumors that Rivera could be traded before the start of next season because the Yankees are looking to give more playing time to their younger pitchers.
Myles Jack, a UCLA linebacker who also played running back, was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive and Defensive Freshman Player of the Year. He is the first player to be selected as both freshman of the year in the same season. Jack was drafted third overall by the Los Angeles Jaguars in the 2017 NFL Draft.
However, several players have switched positions within the league. The most notable example is Joe Namath, who while playing quarterback for the New York Jets led the Super Bowl III champion Baltimore Colts to believe he would switch positions to replace the injured Johnny Unitas. When Namath refused to do so, he was replaced by a rookie who did play defense - Gary Hogeboom. Namath then led the AFL's New York Titans to victory over the NFL's Oakland Raiders in the first ever playoff game. In addition to his career with the Jets, Namath played three seasons with the Broncos and one with the Dolphins before retiring after the 1970 season.
Other famous dual-position players include Deion Sanders, Derrick Brooks, Brian Dawkins, Lomasi Kuehne, Mike Vrabel, and Eric Dickerson.
In college football, there have been many two-way players over the years.
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