Famous Athletes Who Have Tried Other Sports
Specialization reigns supreme in today’s world, and sports are no different. As athletic programs grow more competitive, even at young ages, athletes tend to focus their efforts on a single sport fairly early in their lives.
Nonetheless, both the past and the present include some examples of elite performers who have tried to transition their physical talents into other sports. A rare few have pulled it off and become multi-sport stars, but most should have stuck to what they knew best. Take a look at this collection of athletes whose aspirations were far too big to be contained by a single sport.
Michael Jordan: Basketball and Baseball
His Airness shocked the world in 1993 when he announced his retirement from basketball to pursue a career in baseball. He later admitted that basketball-fueled fatigue and his father’s death three months earlier influenced his decision.
Jordan struggled through two minor league seasons in the White Sox system, hitting .202 with three homers and 51 RBIs in the Southern League. By March 1995, he decided to return to basketball and led the Chicago Bulls to three more NBA titles, cementing his legacy as the greatest basketball player of all time.
Tim Tebow: Football and Baseball
After Tim Tebow completed one of the greatest careers in college football history, he went on to become one of the most polarizing players in the NFL. He played three full NFL seasons and two more on practice squads before finishing his pro football career in 2015 with a 47.9 career completion percentage and 2,422 passing yards.
In 2016, he decided to pursue a professional baseball career. In 306 minor league games in the New York Mets system, he has hit .222 with 18 homers, 109 RBIs and a .631 OPS.
Bo Jackson: Football and Baseball
Bo Jackson might be one of the greatest two-sport stars of all time. He is the only athlete to ever earn all-star honors in both the NFL and MLB, and he started it all off by winning the 1985 Heisman Trophy.
In four NFL seasons with the Los Angeles Raiders, he rushed for 2,782 yards and 16 touchdowns on 5.4 yards per carry to earn 1990 Pro Bowl honors. In eight MLB seasons with the Royals, White Sox and Angels, he hit .250 with 141 homers and 415 RBIs, earning All-Star honors in 1989.
Tracy McGrady: Basketball and Baseball
Tracy McGrady was an unforgettable basketball superstar, a high school-to-NBA prodigy who made seven NBA All-Star teams and seven All-NBA teams. In a career that started in 1997 and ended in 2012, he scored 18,381 points and won a pair of scoring titles in 2003 and 2004.
After finishing his basketball career, McGrady tried baseball, working with MLB legend Roger Clemens to develop as a pitcher. In 2014, he played two games for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Independent League, with a 6.75 ERA and 10 walks.
Usain Bolt: Track and Soccer
A record-setter in the 100 meters and 200 meters, Usain Bolt is the greatest sprinter of all time. No one has ever run faster than his 9.58 seconds 100-meter dash or his 19.19 seconds 200-meter dash. He is also the proud owner of eight Olympic gold medals.
His dream, however, was to play soccer for Manchester United when he finished running. After the 2016 Olympics, he signed with the Central Coast Mariners in Australia, where he played for eight weeks before retiring. Bolt scored two goals in a friendly (exhibition game) before calling it quits.
Lolo Jones: Track and Bobsledding
Lolo Jones became an international star as a hurdler for Louisiana State University and the United States, winning a pair of gold medals at the World Indoor Championships in 2008 and 2010. She was the favorite to win gold in the 100-meter hurdles in the 2008 Olympics, but she hit the second to last hurdle and finished seventh.
Jones later took up bobsledding, making the U.S. national team in 2012, winning gold at the World Championships in 2013 and qualifying for the Olympics in 2014. Her team finished 11th in Sochi.
Tony Romo: Football and Golf
One of the most athletic quarterbacks of his era, Tony Romo made his living in the NFL with his ability to evade pass rushers and make incredible throws on the move. A four-time Pro Bowler who threw for 34,183 yards and 248 touchdowns in 14 seasons, Romo also played golf, tennis and basketball in high school.
Golf became his main passion in the years following retirement from football. He has played in four PGA Tour events in his career and has tried to get his PGA Tour card via the Web.com Tour and Q-School.
Jerry Rice: Football and Golf
The greatest receiver in NFL history, Jerry Rice won three Super Bowls and made 10 All-Pro teams in his career. He still holds records with 1,549 career receptions, 22,895 career receiving yards and 197 career receiving touchdowns.
Like Romo, his passion outside of football is golf. He played in multiple events on the Nationwide Tour, but he has never fared very well, with a DQ in one event and a second-to-last-place finish in another. He’s a regular participant in various Pro-Ams and has a career best Tour score of 76.
Stephen Curry: Basketball and Golf
Stephen Curry has revolutionized basketball with his long-range, off-the-dribble shooting, making an unprecedented number of three-pointers at an unprecedented rate. He remains the only player in NBA history to win an MVP award with a unanimous vote, an honor he claimed in 2015-16.
The three-time NBA champion is also an avid golfer who once shot 74 in back-to-back rounds in the Ellie Mae Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour. He has a 5 handicap and has pledged to fully fund the men’s and women’s golf teams at Howard University for six years.
Deion Sanders: Football and Baseball
Neon Deion isn’t just one of the best defensive backs and kick returners in NFL history. He also played nine seasons in Major League Baseball, and he’s the only person in history with a Super Bowl title and a World Series appearance.
In 14 NFL seasons, Sanders made nine first-team All-Pro appearances as a cornerback, intercepting 53 passes, scoring 10 defensive touchdowns and scoring nine more kick or punt return touchdowns. On the diamond, he was a career .263 hitter with 39 homers and 186 stolen bases in 641 career MLB games.
Russell Wilson: Football and Baseball
A seven-time Pro Bowl quarterback and Super Bowl XLVIII champion, Russell Wilson is among the most electric passers in the NFL, nimble in the pocket with a strong and accurate arm. His career passer rating of 101.2 is among the best in NFL history.
Before his NFL days, Wilson played two seasons of baseball in the minor leagues, hitting .229 with five homers in 93 games. In 2018, as a member of the Yankees’ system, Wilson made a Spring Training pinch-hit appearance for Aaron Judge, striking out on five pitches.
Marion Jones: Track and Basketball
Once a three-time gold medalist, Marion Jones was one of the greatest female sprinters of all time — until her medals were stripped from her after she admitted to steroid use. In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, she ran the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 4×100-meter relay and 4×400-meter relay and competed in the long jump.
Jones was also a college basketball standout at North Carolina, where she won a national championship in 1994. She was chosen 33rd overall in the 2003 WNBA Draft and went on to play 47 WNBA games for the Tulsa Shock.
Charlie Ward: Football and Basketball
Charlie Ward was the best player in college football in 1993, taking home the Heisman Trophy and winning a national championship as Florida State’s quarterback. Despite his collegiate stardom, he was not drafted in the 1994 NFL Draft.
Instead, Ward went on to play in the NBA, including nine seasons with the New York Knicks, who he helped guide to the 1999 NBA Finals. In 12 years, Ward averaged 6.3 points, 4.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game, shooting 36.4% from the three-point line in his NBA career.
Marquise Goodwin: Track and Football
Marquise Goodwin is one of the top athletes in the NFL. A dynamic receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, he has 13 career receiving touchdowns and a 16.6 yards per catch clip.
Goodwin is also a dynamic track athlete who specializes in the long jump, which he won a gold medal for in the 2008 World Junior Championships. In qualifying for the 2012 Olympics, Goodwin jumped 8.33 meters, which would have won him the gold medal in London. Unfortunately, he finished in 10th place at the actual 2012 Olympic Games.
Jim Thorpe: Track, Football and Baseball
Perhaps the greatest athlete of all time, Jim Thorpe was an Olympic gold medalist who also played professional football, baseball and basketball. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, he won the gold medal in both the decathlon and the pentathlon.
As a baseball player, he played in 289 career Major League games, with 176 hits and 82 RBIs. In football, he landed on the first All-NFL team in 1923, and he was in the first class inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 alongside 16 other players.
Drew Henson: Football and Baseball
Drew Henson, once Tom Brady’s backup quarterback in college, left Michigan before his senior season to play professional baseball after signing a $17 million deal with the Yankees. He ended up with just nine career at-bats and one hit for the Yankees before turning back to football in 2003.
The Cowboys chose him in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, and he went on to play in nine career NFL games as a quarterback, throwing a single touchdown pass. Today, he works as a scout for the Yankees’ organization.
Jake Locker: Football and Baseball
A first round pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2011 after an All-American career at Washington, Jake Locker threw for 4,967 yards and 27 touchdowns in four seasons. He hung up his football pads for good after the 2014 season.
Before his NFL career, Locker was a 10th round pick in the MLB Draft by the Anaheim Angels, and he signed a contract with the organization in 2010. When his football career finished, the Angels expressed no interest in retaining their rights to Locker, who had not played baseball since high school.
John Lynch: Football and Baseball
One of the hardest hitting safeties of his era, John Lynch was a stalwart in the secondary for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1993 to 2003, winning Super Bowl XXXVII in 2002. A nine-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro safety, Lynch racked up 1,058 tackles and 26 interceptions in his career.
Before that, he made baseball history, throwing the first pitch in the history of the Florida Marlins organization. A second round pick as a pitcher in the 1992 MLB Draft, he pitched professionally in two minor league seasons.
Bradley Marquez: Football and Baseball
A 16th round pick of the New York Mets in 2011, Bradley Marquez spent his falls playing receiver for Texas Tech and his springs playing minor league baseball for three years before focusing on football his senior season. He played four seasons as a receiver in the NFL for the Rams and the Lions, catching 16 career passes and tallying 16 special teams tackles.
In 2019, Marquez returned to baseball, playing in 20 games for the Mets’ Single-A affiliate. In 62 minor league at-bats, Marquez hit just .161.
Kyler Murray: Baseball and Football
When the Arizona Cardinals selected 2018 Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, he became the first player ever selected in the first round of both the NFL and MLB Drafts. The year before, the Oakland Athletics took him eighth overall in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Faced with a choice, Murray chose football, despite a $4.66 million signing bonus offer from the A’s, who retain his baseball rights. As a rookie, he has thrown for more than 3,000 yards and rushed for more than 500.
Terrell Owens: Football and Basketball
In 16 NFL seasons, Terrell Owens was one of the most unstoppable, polarizing receivers in the history of the league. He earned five All-Pro selections and made six Pro Bowls, with 15,934 career yards and 153 touchdowns, a category he led the NFL in three separate seasons.
In college, Owens was an excellent basketball player, making the 1995 NCAA Tournament with the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. During his NFL career, he lobbied unsuccessfully to play summer league basketball with the Sacramento Kings, and he later admitted regret for not pursuing basketball further.
Akili Smith: Football and Baseball
Akili Smith was the third quarterback chosen in the famous 1999 NFL Draft, which saw three quarterbacks taken with the top three picks. Despite a successful collegiate career at Oregon, Smith didn’t pan out in the NFL, playing just four seasons and throwing for 2,212 yards, five touchdowns and 13 interceptions for his career.
Before his football career, Smith was a seventh round pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he played in three minor league seasons. In 62 professional games, Smith hit .176, with four homers and 20 RBIs.
Herschel Walker: Football, MMA and Track
The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner, Herschel Walker is one of the most talented running backs in football history. He was the 1985 USFL MVP and earned two Pro Bowl honors in his NFL career. He rushed for 8,225 yards and 61 touchdowns from 1986 to 1997.
During and after football, Walker maintained peak physical condition and tried out a number of sports. In 1992, he made the U.S. Olympic bobsledding team, and in 2009, he pursued a professional Mixed Martial Arts career, winning his only two professional fights by knockout.
Brandon Weeden: Baseball and Football
A second round pick by the Yankees in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, Brandon Weeden pitched for five seasons in the minor leagues. He posted a career ERA of 5.02 in 108 games.
When baseball didn’t work out, Weeden turned to football, developing into a first round draft selection out of Oklahoma State. He played in the NFL from 2012 to 2015, throwing for 6,462 yards and 31 touchdowns in 35 games. In 2018, he served as Deshaun Watson’s backup for the Houston Texans, playing a single snap.
Ricky Williams: Football and Baseball
A two-time All-American and the 1998 Heisman Trophy winner after a college career at Texas, Ricky Williams played 12 NFL seasons, rushing for 10,009 yards and scoring 66 touchdowns for the New Orleans Saints and the Miami Dolphins. In 2002, he led the NFL in rushing and earned first team All-Pro honors.
Before his football career, Williams was selected in the eighth round of the 1995 MLB Draft, and he played four seasons in the Philadelphia Phillies farm system. In 170 minor league games, he hit .211, with four homers and 46 steals.
Paolo Maldini: Soccer and Tennis
As a left back and central defender for AC Milan and the Italian National Team, Paolo Maldini established himself as one of the greatest soccer players in the history of the sport. He made more than 600 appearances for Milan and set a record for international caps with Italy before retiring in 2009 from the sport.
In 2017, Maldini tried to break through in professional tennis, making one doubles appearance in the Aspria Tennis Cup on the ATP Challenger Tour. He and his partner lost in less than an hour, 6-1, 6-1.
Danny Ainge: Basketball and Baseball
Danny Ainge won two NBA titles with the Celtics in the 1980s, playing alongside Larry Bird and some of the greatest players and teams in NBA history. For his career, he averaged 11.5 points and 4.0 assists per game, making the All-Star game in 1988.
While he was still in college, Ainge made his professional debut in baseball, playing second base for the Toronto Blue Jays. He posted 146 hits in 211 games, and to this day, he is the second-youngest player in franchise history to hit a home run.
Chase Budinger: Basketball and Volleyball
A high-flying forward for the Arizona Wildcats and four NBA teams from 2007 to 2016, Chase Budinger shared McDonald’s All-American Game MVP honors with Kevin Durant in high school. He played 407 NBA games in his career, averaging 7.9 points per game.
In high school, Budinger was the national player of the year in volleyball. After playing a season of basketball overseas following his NBA career, he returned to volleyball in 2018. He plays on the AVP Tour with Casey Patterson and played with Sean Rosenthal in 2018.
Wilt Chamberlain: Basketball, Track and Volleyball
Everyone remembers basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain for his 100-point game, his mind-blowing statistics and his revolutionizing of the NBA in the 1960s. A two-time NBA Champion, seven-time scoring champ, 11-time rebounding champ and the 1968 leader in assists, Chamberlain was unstoppable on the basketball court.
He was also pretty good off the court in a number of arenas. He is an IVA hall of famer in volleyball, for example. In college, he won three straight Big Eight high jumping championships, and he even tried boxing, once challenging Muhammad Ali to a fight.
Pat Connaughton: Baseball and Basketball
A fourth round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft by the Baltimore Orioles, Pat Connaughton pitched in six minor league games, posting a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings, before pursuing an NBA career. The Brooklyn Nets made him the 41st pick in the 2015 NBA Draft but then traded his rights to the Portland Trailblazers.
After three seasons in Portland, he is now a guard for the Milwaukee Bucks. He has an average of 4.6 points per game for his career, and he played a career high 21.6 minutes per game in 2019.
