Kyler Murray chooses NFL over baseball, Oakland A's
Kyler Murray, the 2018 Heisman winner, is choosing the NFL over a professional baseball career. Murray was the ninth overall pick in last June's baseball amateur draft, and the outfielder agreed to a minor league contract with the Oakland A's for a $4.66 million signing bonus, money he'll have to pay back.
Murray is eligible for this year's NFL draft, which starts April 25. Oakland started spring training workouts Monday and had a locker with a No. 73 jersey waiting for him.
"I am firmly and fully committing my life and time to becoming an NFL quarterback," Murray tweeted Monday. "Football has been my love and passion my entire life. I was raised to play QB, and I very much look forward to dedicating 100 percent of myself to being the best QB possible and winning NFL championships. I have started an extensive training program to further prepare myself for upcoming workouts and interviews. I eagerly await the opportunity to continue to prove to NFL decision makers that I am the franchise QB in this draft."
Murray's baseball deal called for him to receive $1.5 million within 30 days of the deal's approval last summer by Major League Baseball and $3.16 million on March 1.
Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders played both football and baseball, but Jackson was a running back and Sanders a cornerback.
"Things have certainly changed since the draft," Billy Beane, Oakland's executive vice president of baseball operations, said before the announcement. "The situation is fluid right now and based on a historic college football season that the young man had."
"Quarterback is a very demanding position, as is being a Major League baseball player," Beane said. "To say somebody could or couldn't, I'm not here to say that. Something like that is something that is part of our private discussions."
Murray passed for 4,361 yards and 42 touchdowns for Oklahoma last season. He ran for 1,001 yards and another 12 scores, posting the second-best passer efficiency rating in FBS history.
In their latest mock draft, the team at CBS Sports believes the Miami Dolphins could select Murray with the thirteenth overall pick in the NFL draft.
"Obviously the fact that he would want to play quarterback, if he chooses the football route, is a little different than Deion or Bo or some of those guys," Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said in November. "But he athletically is so gifted and can transition between the two."