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7 NFL Players Who Got Drafted To MLB ft Tom Brady, Deion Sanders and More
Here are seven NFL stars who got drafted to MLB as top prospects. The list also includes the likes of Tom Brady and Deion Sanders.
![Tom Brady [Credit-Getty Images]](https://www.pinkvilla.com/images/2024-06/1857497890_tom-brady-credit-getty-images.jpg "Tom Brady [Credit-Getty Images]")
The 2024 NFL Draft is done and dusted. Although most players only hear their names being called once on draft day, a select few athletes have been picked more than once in a single sport over the years.
Though they are by no means the only players with that distinction, three of the most well-known NFL players who were also chosen in the MLB draft are Tom Brady, Russell Wilson, and John Elway.
The most well-known NFL players who were also selected by MLB teams are highlighted here; the list includes both well-known players who were two-sport stars and lesser-known players who you may not have known were formerly baseball prospects.
Bo Jackson (4th round)
Had he concentrated on just one sport and stayed away from the injuries that ended his career too soon, Bo Jackson—the greatest pure athlete in the history of professional sports—might have been inducted into the Hall of Fame in either baseball or football.
He was a Pro Bowl running back for the Oakland Raiders in 1990 and an All-Star outfielder for the Kansas City Royals in 1989, but in his age-28 season, he had a hip injury that ended his football career.
He continued to play baseball until 1994, finishing eight seasons with the Royals, White Sox, and Angels with a 112 OPS+, 141 home runs, 415 RBI, and 8.3 WAR.
Russell Wilson (4th round)
The Baltimore Orioles selected Russell Wilson in the 41st round of the draft out of high school. The organization offered Wilson a $350,000 incentive to abandon his commitment to play for NC State, which would have made it the third-largest bonus awarded that year, after Matt Wieters and Jake Arrieta.
During his three undergraduate seasons, he hit .282/.384/.415 in 285 plate appearances, but he still chose to follow his college pledge and play sports. In 2010, he signed a contract as a fourth-round pick with the Colorado Rockies.
In 93 games between Low-A Tri-City and Single-A Asheville in 2010 and 2011, he hit 229/.355/.356 with nine doubles, eight triples, five home runs, 26 RBI, and 19 steals. In 2012, he gave up baseball to concentrate on football.
Wilson participated in spring training with the Texas Rangers in 2014 and 2015 and the New York Yankees in 2018, pinch-hitting for Aaron Judge in his only professional at-bat in 2018, and striking out against Max Fried. He didn't really try to make the squad; his presence was mainly for publicity, but the Yankees still owned his rights.
Kyler Murray (1st round)
Played for the Oklahoma baseball team in 2018 and hit.296/.398/.556 with 13 doubles, 10 home runs, 47 RBI, and 10 steals. Later that spring, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth overall pick in the MLB draft.
He returned to Oklahoma to play junior football with the plan of reporting for spring training in 2019, but after winning the Heisman Trophy, he decided to pursue a career in the NFL. Oakland is still the owner of his draft rights.
John Lynch (2nd round)
John Lynch was a right-handed pitcher in the Florida Marlins system before he became a hard-hitting safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pitching for the Erie Sailors in 1992, he actually threw the first pitch in the organization's existence.
In 29.1 innings, he recorded a 2.15 ERA, although he also had more walks (17) than strikeouts (16) in the game. He played two more games with Single-A Kane County the next spring, but after being taken in the third round of the 1993 NFL draft, he decided to give up baseball to concentrate on football.
Patrick Mahomes (37th round)
Prior to the 2014 draft, Baseball America's list of the Top 500 draft prospects ranked Patrick Mahomes at No. 419, making him a serious contender for a major league position right out of high school.
Detroit Tigers selected him in the 37th round of the 2014 MLB Draft. Football was the wise choice, but there was a lot of promise in him as a pitcher.
Deion Sanders (6th round)
One distinction that may last through the ages is that Deion Sanders is the only athlete in history to have participated in both the Super Bowl and the World Series. Although the Kansas City Royals chose to take him in the sixth round of the 1985 MLB draft, he was actually drafted higher out of high school. Nevertheless, he chose to attend college, where he excelled in three different sports.
‘Prime Time’ excelled as a football cornerback, baseball outfielder, and member of the conference-winning track team while attending Florida State. The Atlanta Falcons selected him No. 5 overall in the 1990 NFL draft.
He participated in nine Major League Baseball seasons, reaching his best in 1992 with an NL-high 14 triples, a .304/.346/.495 slash line, and 3.2 WAR in 325 plate appearances. In the 1992 World Series, he hit 8 for 15 with two doubles and five steals. He played 641 games with the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, and San Francisco Giants, with 558 hits, 186 steals, and 5.5 WAR.
Tom Brady (18th Round)
Had Tom Brady opted for a career on the field rather than playing football at the University of Michigan, he may have had a serious future in professional baseball. He was included as a type of "what could have been" card in the 2003 Bowman Draft baseball card release, with the 1-of-1 superfractor parallel becoming one of the most sought-after cards of the year.
The Montreal Expos selected Brady in the eighteenth round of the 1995 MLB Draft. But it was better that he got into the NFL otherwise we would have never known the GOAT.
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