The Oklahoma quarterback is a dual-sport star. Why would he choose the brutality of football over a more comfortable life in baseball?
So this is what a college athlete with real leverage looks like. Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray has done a masterful job pitting two sporting giants, Major League Baseball and the National Football League, against each other.
Let’s rewind for a moment to explain what’s happened. Murray was a brilliant two-sport athlete in high school, which is little surprise given that his father was once a star quarterback at Texas A&M and his uncle played professionally for the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs. Murray started off his college career playing both sports, but the Oakland A’s were excited enough by his talent that they picked Murray in the 2018 first-year player draft and signed him to a deal that guaranteed the outfielder $4.6m. This despite the fact that Murray was still playing football.
Written by Oliver Connolly
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/16/kyler-murray-mlb-nfl-oklahoma-draft-oakland-as under the title “Why Kyler Murray is set to forfeit a $4.6m MLB bonus and join the NFL”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
