Kyler Murray has decided he’s “firmly committing (his) life and time to becoming an NFL quarterback.” For those who live under a rock and don’t know, Murray was drafted by the Oakland A’s organization in the first round of last year’s MLB Draft.
Yeah, he was kind of part of their future plans.
But the A’s knew what they were getting into when they drafted Murray. With the NFL being the juggernaut that it is, Murray’s decision isn’t exactly a surprise. Not to mention, at worst, he is a career back-up quarterback in the NFL. Again, at worst. However, if he was to play baseball, Murray would more than likely spend at least two or three years in minor league ball, driving across middle America, sleeping on buses before checking in to a Chattanooga hotel, or somewhere else.
However, if you ask Bo Jackson, who’s generally considered the greatest athlete of all time, knowing what he knows, he would’ve played baseball over football.
Back in 2017, Jackson discussed football versus baseball with USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
“If I knew back then what I know now,’’ Jackson told Nightengale, “I would have never played football. Never. I wish I had known about all of those head injuries, but no one knew that. And the people that did know that, they wouldn’t tell anybody.
“The game has gotten so violent, so rough. We’re so much more educated on this CTE stuff (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), there’s no way I would ever allow my kids to play football today.
“Even though I love the sport, I’d smack them in the mouth if they said they wanted to play football.
“I’d tell them, ‘Play baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, just anything but football.’”
Maybe Murray is unaware of Jackson’s comments. Or maybe he just doesn’t care and is just like any other young athlete that thinks he or she is invincible. At least from a physical standpoint, it hopefully works out on his end.
