This is the first edition of a new segment on the blog: "What Could Have Been...". We'll look at what could have been if history had been changed (
LOST style). Today's edition--in honor of the Super Bowl--will look at some NFL players who may have been MLB players if things had gone a little different. Now we'll leave out some more obvious ones like Drew Henson, Bo Jackson, Brian Jordan and Deion Sanders. Let's look at some that time may have forgotten (with thanks to
Baseball-Reference's Bullpen for help):
John Elway - Elway is one of the most interesting two-way sport stories.
TIME Magazine described him in 1983 as "
a golden Californiabred whose pedigree is by Johnny Unitas out of Mickey Mantle." Elway was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 1979 MLB draft, but did not sign. He was then drafted by the New York Yankees in the 1981 MLB draft and went on to play in the minor leagues for the Yankees. In 42 games as a 22-year-old outfielder with the short season A-level Oneonta Yankees he hit .318/.432/.464. In the 1983 NFL draft, Elway was drafted by the Baltimore Colts who he had zero interest in playing for. He demanded that he either be traded or he would just play baseball (
ESPN pointed out in 2007 that Elway's real leverage was that he showed he could actually succeed at baseball at both Stanford and with the Yankees) . Colts' owner Robert Irsay finally gave in and traded him to the Denver Broncos and the rest is history. But if Irsay hadn't given in, I wonder if Elway would have been serious about sticking with football and playing for the New York Yankees.
Archie Manning - The eldest Manning will be watching his son Peyton play in the Super Bowl tonight but it could have been very different. Manning was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the third round of the 1971 Amateur Draft but he didn't sign. Imagine if he would have gone in that direction...I wonder if his sons would have followed?
Ricky Williams - Maybe it was a good thing they really didn't test for drugs for baseball in the 90s. Williams was drafted out of high school in the 8th round of the MLB draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Williams played for four years at the Class A level with the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League and the Piedmont Boll Weevils of the South Atlantic League. Williams was not much of a hitter. Baseball-reference has all the details:
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