A lot of the hype surrounding Kyler Murray is due to his decision to enter the 2019 NFL draft. It’s a decision that also means he’ll abandon a career in professional baseball with the Oakland Athletics, who selected Murray in the first round of the 2018 MLB draft.
When Murray took to the podium on Friday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, he was faced with all sorts of questions about his decision.
“What would you be doing if you weren’t playing football?”
“Did Bryce Harper’s contract make you rethink your decision?”
I chose a different approach to Murray’s history with baseball. I asked Murray if having a baseball background will help him as much as it did Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes in his first season.
“People who play baseball (know) it’s a game of failure,” said the former Oklahoma quarterback. “I think that’s a lesson that’s helped me a lot. Being patient, it’s taught me patience. These are two different games we’re talking about, and they’ve taught me different lessons. For me, definitely being patient and learning how to fail and coming back, just handling adversity.”
While Murray brought up the mental advantages of playing baseball, most people think of the physical advantages, like Mahomes’ crazy sidearm throws or his amazing velocity.
Murray isn’t concerned with that, though, because he knows the limits of his abilities.
“I am who I am. There’s different techniques with two sports,” Murray said.
Murray and Mahomes played different positions in baseball, Mahomes a pitcher and Murray an outfielder and shortstop, but if Murray can learn to capitalize on the physical as well as the mental lessons he learned from baseball, he could see the same success that other baseball-to-football guys like Mahomes and Russell Wilson have had in the NFL.
