Florida State Football: Is Major League Baseball a Threat to Seminole Football?

I believe the simple answer is no, but what if this trend of major league franchises luring away talent from the football field continues at Florida State?

I pose these questions after FSU wide receiver Taiwan Easterling left the team to pursue a career with the Chicago Cubs this summer. And even more recently, news of FSU commit Jameis Winston’s possible interest in professional baseball has come to light.

I know that it is always a possibility that there will be multi-sport athletes playing Seminole football who will take a swing with their chances in the major leagues or another professional sport.

However, when a blue chip, high school senior is speculating about a career in baseball after making a verbal commitment to a team, I am not appreciative of the system.

I don’t favor a system where someone can make a commitment only to back out of it for his own gain. However, the system is fickle to where players can lose scholarships for injuries and other reasons that might be out of their control.

Therefore, they are put in a situation where they must do what is best for themselves and, in many cases, their families.

Unfortunately, this is the system in place, and Florida State is not the only school with players jumping to the professional level.

Looking past the borders of Tallahassee, NC State had its own offseason drama with former QB Russell Wilson being dropped from the roster for wanting to jump to the majors. He has ended up at Wisconsin and will likely be at the top of the depth chart at quarterback.

I don’t like the idea of a player leaving his team, but if athletes were only allowed to play one sport, that would have deprived superstars like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders of proving their abilities as athletes.

Other multi-sport collegiate athletes include Jim Brown, Donovan McNabb, Charlie Ward, and John Elway.

Also, I don’t want to deprive these guys of opportunity, because it allows them to showcase their abilities as multi-sport athletes and gives them the best chance for a future career.

I don’t see any reform being necessary for this issue of NCAA football players going pro in the big leagues; I just hope that these few players jumping for the majors don’t start a trend that hurts not just the Seminoles but many other college football teams as well.