The Top Current NFL Players Who Were Selected in the MLB Draft

When flipping on an NFL broadcast, you're watching the best football players in the universe. Some of them, though, also excelled in a different sport: baseball.

More than a handful of current NFL players also heard their names called at some point in a Major League Baseball draft.

Football players with baseball backgrounds are often quarterbacks. Every so often, an MLB club will select a high school or college QB with a late-round, no-risk pick. But in plenty of cases, it's for good reason.

John Elway, Dan Marino, Michael Vick, Steve McNair, Ricky Williams and many other former NFL players are in this category. The following list, though, is limited to active players.

Golden Tate, WR, New York Giants

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

Drafted: 42nd round, Arizona Diamondbacks (2007); 50th round, San Francisco Giants (2010)

Golden Tate finds himself in rare territory as a football player who's a two-time draft pick in baseball.

Before Tate attended Notre Dame, the Diamondbacks selected him. Then the Giants grabbed Tate—after the Seattle Seahawks picked him in the second round of the 2010 NFL draft. He never joined either MLB team, committing to football along the way.

Tate played two seasons of baseball in South Bend, serving a key role as a sophomore in 2009. He hit .329 with 13 extra-base hits, scoring 45 runs and stealing 13 bases in 14 attempts.

Jameis Winston, QB, New Orleans Saints

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Drafted: 15th round, Texas Rangers (2012)

While winning the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback at Florida State, Jameis Winston also spent two seasons on the diamond.

Though his batting stats weren't great—just .209 in 158 at-bats—Winston performed much better on the mound. He made 41 pitching appearances, posting a 1.94 ERA in 60.1 innings with 52 strikeouts and a minimal 0.91 WHIP.

Winston didn't play in 2015 at FSU before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked him No. 1 overall in the NFL draft that year.

Shaq Thompson, LB, Carolina Panthers

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

Drafted: 18th round, Boston Red Sox (2012)

Shaq Thompson is a hard-hitting linebacker who signed a four-year, $54.2 million contract in December. He's a foundational piece of the Carolina Panthers defense.

As for baseball, not quiiiiite as good.

Thompson is best remembered for a remarkably bad stint on Boston's rookie-ball team in 2012. He went 0-for-39 with 37 strikeouts, managing eight walks, three runs and a stolen base.

Fortunately for Thompson, he developed into an All-American linebacker at Washington and became a standout in the NFL.

Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals

Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

Drafted: 1st round, Oakland Athletics (2018)

Kyler Murray started at quarterback for Texas A&M in 2015 but transferred to Oklahoma following the season. In Norman, he joined the baseball team and put together an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention year in 2018. The outfielder posted a .398 on-base percentage with 10 homers and 26 total extra-base hits.

The Oakland A's then chose Murray with the ninth overall pick of the 2018 MLB draft.

But he wanted to play football for Oklahoma. Baker Mayfield's departure opened a void at quarterback, and the A's allowed Murray to play football in 2018 before he joined their organization. However, it never happened; Murray won the Heisman Trophy, and the Arizona Cardinals drafted him No. 1 overall in 2019.

Murray is the only person to ever be selected in the first round of the MLB and NFL drafts.

Russell Wilson, QB, Seattle Seahawks

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Drafted: 41st round, Baltimore Orioles (2007); 4th round, Colorado Rockies (2010)

Similar to Murray, it would be insufficient to tell Russell Wilson's story without mentioning baseball.

Wilson spent 2007 to 2010 at North Carolina State, emerging as an All-ACC quarterback in the fall and heading to the ballpark in the spring. After playing minor league baseball for the Rockies in the summer of 2010, Wilson did so again in 2011. That decision pushed him from NC State to Wisconsin because the Wolfpack coaching staff questioned his commitment to football.

That's basically where his baseball career ended. Wilson hit .228 with three homers in 236 plate appearances, headed to Wisconsin and then focused on football.

Still, the Rangers acquired Wilson in 2013 and brought him to spring training in 2014 and 2015. Texas traded him to the New York Yankees in 2018. Wilson enjoyed one at-bat—a strikeout—that spring.

Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Drafted: 18th round, Montreal Expos (1995)

In a different universe, Tom Brady isn't the most successful quarterback in NFL history. Instead, the six-time Super Bowl winner would be an All-Star catcher.

"He was a left-handed, power-hitting catcher who was cerebral," former Expos general manager Kevin Malone told Tim Rohan of The MMQB in 2017. "He had arm strength. He had everything that would warrant him being projected as a major league All-Star. He had everything."

Brady declined the offer from the Expos—who later became the Washington Nationals—to play quarterback at Michigan.

At least that worked out OK.

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Drafted: 37th round, Detroit Tigers (2014)

The son of a longtime MLB pitcher, Patrick Mahomes could've followed in his father's footsteps. However, his desire to play quarterback at Texas Tech pushed Mahomes down MLB draft boards in 2014.

Nevertheless, wondering about his baseball potential is fun. In high school, the future NFL first-round choice outdueled current Chicago White Sox pitcher Michael Kopech. Mahomes struck out 16 batters in a seven-inning no-hitter to defeat Kopech.

"He had the tools to be a baseball star; he really was even then," Kopech said, per Steve Serby of the New York Post.

Mahomes won NFL MVP honors in 2018 and led the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl win in 2019.