As we now await Super Bowl LVIII and the beginning of spring training, I thought this would be the perfect way to cover both sports. Over the years in sports we have had many two sport athletes that did well in both. We can go all the way back to the early 1900’s and Jim Thorpe, the Olympic champion who played MLB with a couple of teams and also was a big part of the beginnings of the NFL as both a player and GM. In the 50’s and 60’s we had several players, Chuck Connors (more on him later), Bill Sharman, Gene Conley, Dave Debusschre and Danny Ainge who played MLB and also played basketball in the NBA. Then we came to the 80’s and 90’s and had pleasure of enjoying Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders and Brian Jordan on both the diamond and gridiron.
Now lets take a look at players who were excellent in both but chose only one and wonder, what if??
What if Dan Marino had chosen baseball over football. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the fourth round of the 1979 draft. Marino had stats that made baseball scouts drool, going 23-0 on the mound and hitting over .500 at the plate in his high school senior year. The Royals offered a hefty bonus, but he decided to try his luck at his other love, football, in college. We will never know what he might have been in baseball, but in football the NFL quickly found out and he is now a member of the NFL Hall of Fame..
What if Tom Glavine had chosen the NHL over MLB instead? In June 1984, just four days after being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the second round of the Major League Baseball draft, Glavine was taken 69th overall by the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL Entry Draft. He was drafted ahead of players like Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull. Glavine had scored 44 goals and 85 points in 23 games in his final season of high school hockey. The HOF’er signed with the Braves instead and today resides in MLB’s Hall of Fame.
What if Dave Winfield had decided the NBA or NFL was more his style? In 1973 Winfield was drafted by four pro sports teams in three different sports. According to scouts from both the NBA and NFL Winfield was so natural as an athlete he would have been a star in any of them. In 1973 the San Diego Padres took him in the first round (fourth overall), the Atlanta Hawks (NBA) took him as a power forward in the fifth round, the Utah Stars (ABA) took him in the fourth round and the Minnesota Vikings selected him in the 17th round as a wide receiver. But baseball was his real love and his play made him a Hall of Famer.
What if John Elway had become a New York Yankee rather than a Denver Bronco? Elway was drafted ahead of future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn by the New York Yankees in the second round in 1981 and received a higher bonus than No. 1 overall pick Mike Moore in 1981. He played just one season for Class A Oneonta, batting .318/.432/.464 with 10 home runs and was going to be moved to Double A and considered a future Yankee star. But Elway leveraged his potential ML baseball career to engineer a trade from the Baltimore Colts who had drafted him, to the Denver Broncos and his baseball career came to an end and his Hall of Fame NFL career began.
What if John Lynch had chosen the Miami Marlins and baseball over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and football? He was drafted by the Marlins in the second round of the 1992 draft as a hard throwing 98 mph pitcher. The Pro Bowl safety for the Bucs and now the San Francisco 49ers General Manager threw the first pitch in the organization’s history as a member of the Class A Erie Sailors in 1992. He spent two years in the minors at the A and Double A level before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft. So much for pitching for the Marlins. Of course now his 49’ers are in Super Bowl LVIII.
Speaking of the Bucs, here is one more about a former Buccaneer.
He was one of the best high school catching prospects in the entire country. He starred at Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif., and was an 8th-round pick of the Montreal Expos in the 1995 MLB Draft. Kevin Malone, the former Expos general manager said he could have been an all-time great behind the plate. He could hit with power, was solid defensively and had a rocket arm. But he decided to go to college and go with football and was the 199th pick in the 2000 draft. His name is Tom Brady………….What if??
Here is an interesting note regarding former Brooklyn Dodger, Chicago Cub and Boston Celtic Chuck Connors………He was a trailblazer for future athletes becoming actors. Connors would be the first professional athlete to star in his own TV series, when he headlined “The Rifleman”, one of TV’s all time classic westerns, from 1958 to 1963 on ABC. Connors continued in movie and television roles up until his death in 1992. He may not be in the HOF, but he does have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
I hope you enjoyed this segment of “Art’s World” as much as I did researching it and putting it together. There were many more athletes I could have added, but we’ll save them for another time. Now let’s hope for an exciting Super Bowl and a great 2024 for our Tampa Bay Rays!
Art Koch, National Features & DVD Editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN
