Kyler Murray never limited himself by focusing on one sport and it paid huge dividends.
The NFL Scouting Combine is history.
Hopefully, kids and parents watching it won’t buy in that the biggest news to come out of it was that quarterback Kyler Murray is officially 5-foot-10.
That was the newsflash, breaking news. That was supposed to be the end-all, be-all.
That one inch was supposed to sway NFL owners and general managers to draft Murray, the former Oklahoma star, first overall instead simply in the first round.
Honestly, what young athletes and their parents should have walked away with is the history Murray is about to achieve.
When he’s drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft in April – and most scouts believe it will happen – he’ll be the FIRST athlete ever to be drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft and NFL Draft.
It will be an incredible accomplishment.
It will totally blast away the myth that has been sold to young athletic kids these days all over this country.
For years now, some selfish coaches have made young kids choose a sport and only play that sport.
If you’re a hooper, you have to play basketball 24-7, 365 days a year. Same for football.
It’s total hogwash.
Murray, 21, is proof positive.
Murray might just change parents’ thinking moving forward. After all, before these overzealous coaches started brainwashing everybody, all great athletes played more than one sport.
Michael Jordan played baseball. LeBron James played football. Back in the day, MLB HOFer Dave Winfield was drafted by four professional leagues – NBA, ABA, NFL and MLB.
This specialization and silly notion you can only do one thing at a time makes no sense. The seasons don’t overlap, for the most part.
Hence, Murray was able to play two sports in college. He was drafted by the Oakland A’s and given $4.6 million to play baseball.
Murray would ultimately choose to play football over baseball and has to return the A’s their cash.
Surprisingly, football players that played both sports thought that Murry should have picked MLB before he made his final decision. HOFer Deion Sanders said it. So did Seattle QB Russell Wilson. And Brian Jordan agreed.
That debate could rage on for years. Baseball, however, offers a safer life and guaranteed money. Those facts are hard to argue.
For sure, Murray had to look at the recent big MLB free agent signings and wonder if that could have been him one day if he picked baseball.
Shortstop Manny Machado got a 10-year, $300-million deal from the San Diego Padres. It was then topped by outfielder Bryce Harper’s 13-year, $330-million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Harper’s deal is the single richest team sports contract in the history of this country.
And remember, the biggest difference between the NFL and MLB is guaranteed money. All of baseball’s money is guaranteed, not the NFL.
Another reason why baseball could be another option for some talented athletes. There are plenty of baseball scholarships not being used at college, even at HBCUs. White and Hispanic kids are grabbing them up.
The bottom line remains that it’s always better to have options and not limit yourself.
Murray didn’t and is on the brink of greatness.
As for football, some teams are hesitant to pick a QB at his size. One team that apparently, according to reports, will pass is the New York Giants. That, even though, they need a quarterback desperately. Without question Eli Manning, 38, is playing on fumes.
“I’ve never been the biggest guy on the field, I’m always the smallest guy on the field,” Murray told the media in Indianapolis. “I’ve said it multiple times: I feel I’m the most impactful guy on the field and the best player on the field at all time. That’s just the confidence I have in myself and my teammates have in me. I’ve always had to play with this height.”
Murray, the Heisman-trophy winner, still hopes his dream will come true and the Arizona Cardinals will draft him first overall.
“To be the No. 1 pick, that’s a kid’s dream come true,” he said. “If my name was called number one, I’ll be ready to go, for sure.”
The only thing better than that dream coming true is that Murray had other options.
