Today’s athletes are some of the
most versatile and naturally gifted people on the planet. They usually are
quite good at a variety of sports, but should they try to compete professionally
at multiple sports?
The most recognizable dual sport
athlete of the past 50 years is without a doubt Bo Jackson. Jackson played both
football and baseball. As a running back
for the Oakland Raiders, he amassed over 2,700 yards and 16 touchdowns in a
four-year career in the NFL. In eight years for the Kansas
City Royals, Chicago White Sox, and California Angels,
Jackson had over 2,600 plate appearances, 141 homeruns and a batting average of
.250%.
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| courtesy of www.profootballfocus.com |
Today, dual
sport athletes are rare, but they do still exist. Much hype has
been made this spring over Superbowl Champion quarterback Russell Wilson of the
Seattle Seahawks making a spring training appearance for the Texas Rangers.
Another example of a dual athlete at the professional level is Jeff Demps,
who in 2012 was an Olympic sprinter for the USA 4x100m relay team that finished
second at those Olympic Games. He also played in the NFL as a running back for
the New England Patriots and now the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. No studies have been
performed over the stress put on the body by playing professionally in two sports,
but Bo Jackson himself gave his opinion on the subject when asked if Russell
Wilson should try to play in the NFL and MLB.
“Stick to what got you in the headlines,
not baseball. Twenty-five or 30 years ago when I did it, I'm not trying to say
anything negative about other athletes, but the talent pool wasn't that deep.
In this day and age, with all the high-tech training, computer-engineered
workouts and the proper food and diet, if you try to concentrate on two sports,
I guarantee you're going to ride the bench in both because the talent is that
deep. Stick to whatever sport you're comfortable with and let everything else
go." (Durrett & Padilla, 2014)
Durrett, R. & Padilla, D. (2014, March 19). Bo jackson
offers qb wilson advice. Retrieved from
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10630582/bo-jackson-says-russell-wilson-stick-football
I love the idea of multi-sport athletes! You're right when you say that the athletes who excel today are or were generally talented in more than one sport. "Famous Jameis" is another one who has turned heads, a Heisman Trophy winner and one heck of a pitcher/outfielder. I would argue that we as sports enthusiasts would be robbing others if we were to take the stand against multi-sporters. When somebody is that talented and willing to compete and take on the rigors of the sports, then I'm all for it!
ReplyDeleteI think dual athletes give us all so much motivation. Instead of limiting themselves to one dream they followed all of their dreams.
ReplyDeleteI think that two sports at the professional level in this day in time would be horrible for your body.
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