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| Matt York/Associated Press |
Achieving successful playing careers on both the baseball diamond and gridiron. Becoming the only athlete selected in the first round in both the Major League Baseball and National Football League drafts.
Murray, 22, has reopened the door to possibly playing both sports professionally at some point. Reminders of Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson.
"I think I could," Murray told the Arizona Republic. "Athletically, I think, yeah, I could do it. I've been playing both my whole life. I would love to add that to the résumé."
Murray, while at Oklahoma, was an outfielder that hit .296 with 10 home runs, 47 RBIs in 2018 season. Drafted ninth overall in 2018 MLB Draft by Oakland Athletics, the organization holds the rights to Murray after signing a $4.66M signing bonus.
However, he opted to continue his flourishing football career -- winning the 2018 Heisman Trophy and becoming the first overall selection in 2019 NFL Draft.
"I don't understand why in sports they try to marginalize it," Murray told the Republic. "They try to make you pick one and I get it, but we'll see. I think it would be fun. Right now, though, I'm just focused on football."
Coming off a successful rookie campaign as Arizona Cardinal's quarterback – setting franchise and league records. Ambitions of pursuing a major league career might be complicated, as Mike Floria of Pro Football Talk notes:
“ [If] Murray decides to play baseball, there’s nothing the Cardinals can do about it. Although the Buccaneers included in Jameis Winston‘s rookie contract a term that would have allowed the team to get an injunction to prevent Winston from engaging in any type of baseball activity, the NFL and the NFL Players Association have agreed to eliminate the power of teams to slam the door, legally, on a two-sport effort. Although playing baseball would void Murray’s guarantees.”
Murray signed a 4-year, $35.1M a rookie contract last season, according to Over The Cap. Of that, $35.1M is fully guaranteed unless he pursues his major-league aspirations.
