Kyler Murray Not Ready To Give Up On Baseball Yet

If things had gone differently, Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray could be playing baseball for the Oakland Athletics right now.

In fact, Kyler Murray was selected by the As ninth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. However, he was allowed to play football for the Oklahoma Sooners, as well, and Kyler Murray never looked back.

That season, he won the Heisman Trophy and put down his baseball bat to join the 2019 NFL draft. 

He justified that decision in his rookie Cardinals season with some solid numbers. He finished 2019 with 3,722 yards thrown, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 64.4% pass completion rate. As well as that, he rushed for 544 yards and four scores.

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Despite the path of a franchise quarterback being laid out before him, Murray says he’d love to play baseball too.

“I think I could,” he said. 

“… Athletically, I think yeah, I could do it. I’ve been playing both my whole life. I would love to add that to the resume.”

“I don’t understand why in sports they try to marginalize it. They try to make you pick one and I get it, but we’ll see,” he said. 

“I think it would be fun. Right now, though, I’m just focused on football.”

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“He can fly, he can throw, he can steal bases, he has plus bat speed, and he makes good contact,” said a MLB official in 2018.

“He’s not that raw at the plate. He’s got a line-drive stroke with some power. I think he’s got a chance to be a true five-tool guy; it’s just a matter of whether he’s going to play the game or not.”

Others have done it before him. Although, in the modern NFL, he would have to be superhuman to juggle the two sports.