Kyler Murray could join exclusive baseball company with Heisman Trophy win

Kyler Murray is looking to join exclusive company Saturday night. The Oklahoma Sooners quarterback is one of three finalists for college football’s highest individual honor, the Heisman Trophy, alongside fellow quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa of Alabama and Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State.

Just being selected as a finalist for the award puts Murray well within the top one percent of college football players. If Murray wins, he’ll become the 83rd different player selected for the prestigious award, and a record-tying seventh recipient to represent Oklahoma. In fact, this would make it back-to-back years for OU quarterbacks after Baker Mayfield won it last year.

With a win, Murray could also be in line to join another exclusive group of athletes. That being Heisman Trophy winners who double as Major League Baseball players. The first part of that equation is up to the Heisman voters. The second is seemingly up to Murray.

As it stands, Murray is signed and committed to joining the Oakland Athletics after being selected ninth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. That would serve as the beginning of his hopeful trek to the majors. However, he’s clearly having second thoughts about limiting himself to just baseball.

A Heisman Trophy caliber year will do that.

Murray’s agent, Scott Boras, attempted to dispel concerns about his client continuing as a two-sport athlete this week. But there’s no mistaking the words coming from the man himself.

That Murray is considering playing both sports beyond this season could potentially hamper his bid to quickly advance in baseball. Then again, his performance at Oklahoma has proven just how remarkable his talent is. He’s left very little room to doubt what he can accomplish athletically.

Some even believe Murray could excel at both sports and even possibly go down as the best Heisman Trophy winner to play in pro baseball. Perhaps we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves. After all, he hasn’t won the Heisman quite yet, nor has he played one inning of professional baseball. Beyond that, there are a few players, past and present, whose accomplishments and legacies stand in his way.

Here’s a look at the special athletes Murray hopes to join, and will certainly aim to surpass.

Bo Jackson

The standard bearer for two-sport athletes, Jackson was already in the Kansas City Royals lineup one year after winning the 1985 Heisman Trophy for Auburn. Jackson would go on to play in MLB and the NFL, making an All-Star appearance in 1989 for the Royals and the Pro Bowl in 1990 representing the Oakland Raiders.

The comparisons between Jackson and Murray started a long time ago. Murray fueled them even more when he recreated this famous Jackson poster.

Those are big cleats to fill. But Murray isn’t shying away from the pressure.

Vic Janowicz

Jackson was the second Heisman Trophy winner to reach the majors. Janowicz, who won the award in 1952, was the first and is still the only other Heisman Trophy winner to play in MLB.

Janowicz signed with the Pirates in 1952 and was in the majors by 1953. However, his baseball career didn’t amount to much. He appeared in 83 games over parts of two seasons with Pittsburgh. He hit only .214 during that time with a pair of home runs. His strength seemed to be his versatility. He spent time as a catcher, infielder and outfielder for the Pirates.

Janowicz returned to football in 1954, spending two seasons with the Washington Redskins. His sports career was then cut short by an automobile accident.

Tim Tebow

Will Kyler Murray be the third Heisman Trophy winner to reach MLB, or will Tim Tebow beat him to the punch? It’s a valid question considering that Tebow has moved up in the New York Mets system steadily since moving from the NFL to baseball. In fact, new general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who happens to be Tebow’s former agent, is leaving the door wide open.

The 31-year-old showed progress in 2018, hitting .273/.336/.399 in 298 plate appearances at the Double-A level. Tebow’s chances of making the opening day roster are slim. But his path to MLB is still clearer than we ever imagined it would be.

Those are the notable players that have gone from the Heisman Trophy to baseball success. Tebow and especially Jackson are the two Murray will most often be compared to. To be fair though, we shouldn’t overlook a couple stars who actually did the inverse, going from baseball careers to college football’s best player.

Ricky Williams

Yes, the same Ricky Williams legendary NFL coach Mike Ditka traded every New Orleans draft pick to select in the 1999 NFL Draft. The Texas running back won the Heisman in 1998. Prior to that, he’d already spent parts of three seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies minor league system. He was even a teammate of Jimmy Rollins for a short time. An MLB call up was never in the cards, but Williams ended up playing 11 seasons in the NFL.

Chris Weinke

The former Blue Jays prospect made an early commitment to baseball, spending six seasons in the Toronto Blue Jays organization directly out of high school. He made it as far as Triple A, before transitioning to football in 1997 and taking over as Florida State’s quarterback. He would win the Heisman in 2000 at age 28.

Clearly, it’s a very small group of athletes that Kyler Murray is now poised to join. Here’s hoping we can all appreciate the decisions he makes, the talent he has, and how lucky we are to witness his journey.

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