OT: Kyler Murray and degree of difficulty of Pro-sports

[DefenseBB]

With the Kyler Murray decision to go into the NFL draft (after 1 season of QB and Heisman) and to forego, at least for now, playing baseball, it got me thinking about the degree of difficulty of all the pro team sports. When we have a tennis player or pro golfer deciding between baseball/basketball/football/hockey during their prime years, I will revise my sports!

To me, Baseball is the hardest of sports to play. #1 picks might not even make it to the Majors. Hockey is #2, followed by basketball and then football. The later two are size driven, meaning the taller or larger that you are, the induced you are to play the sport.

How many quarterbacks have we seen fizzle at baseball, only to go back to football? I recall only two good football players being decent to good at baseball- Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan. However Deion, John Elway were HOF. Danny Ainge tried playing for the Toronto Blue Jays before being a starter for the Celtics.

Careers are longer in MLB but it is significantly harder to attain success. Thoughts?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Depends on how you look at it. Football is the "hardest" to play (on you, your body, etc.). And baseball with its minor league system is probably easiest to get into, but, as you say, you might not make it to the majors.

If you are a super star, and maybe just a star, I think some of the most lucrative deals are in the NBA.

OTH, look at football where you could be working at the car wash one week and on a team the next, at least if you have experience. That's probably where the size driven comes in.

 

[ochoopsfan]

Hockey is the toughest sport to play. You have to be able to skate first. I have played all of the sports, as a teenager, and hockey was the toughest,

 

[brownale]

Not a golfer, do not watch golf. Seems to be a very humbling sport. Different venue every week, 100 players to defeat (each could have a great week), look like world-beaters one week - struggle to make the cut next week.

 

[oldude]

There is no job harder in sports than being a QB in the NFL. While Murray is a great athlete, he will be an undersized QB, which will make it that much more difficult to succeed.

While making it to the Show and being successful once you get there is certainly never guaranteed, I think Murray’s decision to opt towards a football career is based on 2 factors. First off, he will be in the pros next year with the opportunity to make big money sooner. It could be 2-3 years before he makes it to the Show in baseball. Second, if Murray becomes a starting NFL QB he is “the man” as well as the face of his respective franchise. That’s pretty heady stuff for a young guy in his 20’s.

In baseball, even if he’s successful, Murray is one of 9 guys. In his case he’s one of 3 outfielders on a team. At present, there’s only a handful of young outfielders in MLB who have achieved the notoriety of an NFL QB: Mookie Betts, Aaron Judge and perhaps a few others.

 

[Checkmate 2.0]

OT....Soccer....FWIW

 

[HopJim]

Murray played HS football 3 miles from my house. One of the great HS and one year college athletes I have ever seen. That being said, he is about 5'8" tall and likely not over 170 pounds. Would love to see him play football but concerned that due to his size and the beating he would take this entertainment would not last long. Predict he is using the NFL as leverage to get more baseball money.

 

[eebmg]

One thing to keep in mind is that Baseball is evolvoving into a Home Run / KO game. Less fundamentals are needed, strike outs are tolerated, moving players over, bunting and bat control are dead.

 

[connie]

I looked into this issue some time ago. I find instructive and provocative the discussion in the following:

ESPN.com: Page 2 - Sport Skills Difficulty Rankings

Impressive to see that boxing and hockey rank no. 1 and 2. I understand that the analysis may not be easily reducible to "degree of difficulty" as framed in the title to this thread. And the discussion in the link does not distinguish between and among different positions within team sports--arguably, an important consideration.

Cheers.

 

[Oldbones]

With the Kyler Murray decision to go into the NFL draft (after 1 season of QB and Heisman) and to forego, at least for now, playing baseball, it got me thinking about the degree of difficulty of all the pro team sports. When we have a tennis player or pro golfer deciding between baseball/basketball/football/hockey during their prime years, I will revise my sports!

To me, Baseball is the hardest of sports to play. #1 picks might not even make it to the Majors. Hockey is #2, followed by basketball and then football. The later two are size driven, meaning the taller or larger that you are, the induced you are to play the sport.

How many quarterbacks have we seen fizzle at baseball, only to go back to football? I recall only two good football players being decent to good at baseball- Bo Jackson and Brian Jordan. However Deion, John Elway were HOF. Danny Ainge tried playing for the Toronto Blue Jays before being a starter for the Celtics.

Careers are longer in MLB but it is significantly harder to attain success. Thoughts?

There's always Jim Thorpe as an example. Multiple Gold Medal Olympian in track and field, Star all-purpose Hall of Fame player in the early-days of the NFL, who only batted .252 lifetime squeezed into six Major League BB seasons between his other pursuits.