The NFL players you may not have known who had the chance to play in another pro sports league; some even did.
Professional athletes receive their professional status for many reasons, the biggest one being their incredible athleticism. What separates your favorite NFL players from aspiring professional athletes is their athletic ability to be in different positions or situations which were not foreseen and still follow through with what needs to be done. Some of these abilities cannot be learned through a single-sport mindset and are learned from experiences in different sports.
Making strides on the football field wasn’t always the case for some of the NFL stars we know and love. Many were drafted to play in other leagues, competed in the Olympics for different sports, or even had the opportunity to play professionally in two separate sports. This isn’t a new phenomenon; many NFL players have demonstrated exceptional athleticism across various sports. I’ve done some research, so you don’t have to. Here’s a look at some of the most athletic NFL players who were drafted twice, signed once (or even twice), or competed at the highest level in other sports.
We see the largest amount of league crossovers between the NFL and MLB. Since the inaugural season of the NFL, 67 players have had both MLB and NFL careers. Within that list, two players were winners of the Heisman Trophy and seven players were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. During the inaugural season of the NFL in 1920, 11 MLB veterans were drafted in the NFL. Bo Jackson was the first player to receive All-Star status in both the MLB and NFL and Deion Sanders set the record for the most games played between both leagues with 641 games in the MLB and 189 games in the NFL.
That being said, the crossover between the two leagues has not stopped, and some of our favorite players today have also been drafted to the MLB, though they decided to sign with the NFL. A familiar name, Russell Wilson, was drafted twice to the MLB as a middle infielder: in the 41st round in 2007 by Baltimore and the fourth round in 2010 by Colorado. Ultimately, after playing two years of minor league baseball from 2010 to 2011, Wilson was drafted as a third-round pick in 2012 by the Seattle Seahawks and decided to pursue his aspirations in the NFL. Similarly, Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 18th round in 1995 as a batting catcher. The Expos saw Brady’s potential and thought he’d be a future All-Star player in the MLB. Fortunately for us football fans, Brady declined and went on to sign with the New England Patriots in 2000, selected 199th overall in the sixth round. He went on to win seven Super Bowls. Safe to say, he signed the right contract. Another one of football’s greatest attributes, Patrick Mahomes, was drafted to the MLB’s Detroit Tigers in 2014 in the 37th round. Although he had the chance to follow in his father’s footsteps, Mahomes admitted his love for football stopped him from signing, and he went on to be drafted 10th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. With three Super Bowl wins, this counts as another win for NFL fans!
This list is extensive for MLB/NFL-drafted players, but what about the NBA? That’s a different story altogether. Only three players have ever been drafted or signed by both the NFL and NBA. Baylor University alum Mark Vital is one of these players who pursued both leagues. After winning the 2021 NCAA Basketball Championship, Vital was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers for the NBA Summer League. Although he never stepped foot on the court, Vital’s athleticism was effectively utilized; he signed with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021 as a tight end, then was released and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad in 2022. While he never played in a game, Vital still made history as the third player to sign with both NBA and NFL teams. Otto Graham also had the opportunity to play in both professional leagues. After signing with the Cleveland Browns as a quarterback in the AAFC in 1946 and later the NFL following the merger of both leagues in 1949, Graham led the Browns to six championship games and three championship victories (pre-1970) during the merger. During this time, he also played for the National Basketball League (NBL) for one season with the Rochester Royals, where they claimed the league title in 1946. An incredible athlete, to say the least!
But the highest-performing NBA/NFL player would be Bud Grant. In 1950, Grant was drafted by both the Minneapolis Lakers in the fourth round and the Philadelphia Eagles in the first round. Deciding to sign with the Lakers, he played two seasons and won the championship in 1950. A year later, he decided to call the Eagles for a chance to retire his sneakers for a helmet. The team gave him a shot, and he signed with the Eagles in 1952, where he proceeded to play two seasons, the first as a defensive end and the second as a wide receiver. After playing in both the NBA and NFL, Graham decided to switch (again) to Canada, where he played in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. An outstanding athlete with record-setting achievements, Graham left his mark as one of three players to truly play in both the NBA and NFL.
For those of you who may not know, soccer is referred to as ‘fútbol,’ ‘futebol’ or ‘fussball’ in most countries around the world. Some of our NFL players may have taken their liking to football or ‘fútbol’ very seriously as they played in both the NFL and Major League Soccer (MLS) professionally. A former first-round pick goalkeeper in the MLS SuperDraft for FC Dallas, Josh Lambo signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free-agent placekicker in 2015. After playing three seasons in the MLS with FC Dallas and FC Tampa Bay, Lambo went on to play college football as a placekicker from 2012 to 2014 for Texas A&M University and ultimately got drafted to the NFL in 2015. He played eight seasons in the NFL between the San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans. Retiring in 2022, Lambo is still ranked eighth in all-time field goal percentage with 87.07% in the NFL. Brandon Aubrey has a similar story as he was drafted in 2017 in the first-round MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC. After a few soccer seasons, Aubrey signed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2022 as a kicker and set an NFL record for the most made 50-plus yard field goals in a single season in 2024 with 14 field goals. Another athletic win for the NFL!
Another internationally recognized sport, which in many ways is similar to football, had the opportunity to refine the athletic skills of many NFL players. This sport is, of course, rugby. Although not a prominent sport in the U.S., rugby has played a part in many of our NFL players’ athleticism and football abilities. One of the most recognizable names is Jordan Mailata. A newly crowned Super Bowl champion, Mailata is known for his impressive switch from rugby to football. While living in Australia, Mailata played in the junior rugby leagues for under-18s and under-20s. He began his rugby career with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs for the under-18s and graduated to the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the under-20s. After quitting rugby and traveling across the globe for the NFL’s International Players, he was drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL draft with the Philadelphia Eagles. Being only the second player ever to be drafted without American high school or college football experience, he was a big gain for football fans as he just recently won a Super Bowl with the Eagles.
He is not the only player to transition from rugby to football. Nate Ebner, amongst the many, is incredibly athletic and played in some of the highest levels of sports. In 2012, Ebner signed with the New England Patriots as a safety upback and special teamer. After some amazing performances over two years, Ebner won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2014. Three days after his 2016 re-signing, the Patriots granted him a leave of absence. Why? Ebner wanted to try out for the United States national rugby sevens team. After playing under-19s and under-20s earlier in his career, Ebner demonstrated his rugby skills in the World Rugby Sevens and USA training camp before being selected for the 2016 U.S. rugby sevens team. He was also granted a roster exemption from the Patriots so they would not exceed their 90-man roster limit. As he played for the rugby team's first two matches, the team lost by two points and did not advance to the medal play. He returned to the Patriots until the 2020 season when he then signed with the New York Giants but was later placed on injured reserve in 2021. An amazing athlete with athletic abilities reaching high levels in both sports, Ebner’s story shows how difficult it is to be a professional athlete in two sports.
Balancing two professional sports careers has proven difficult, and as we saw, it is rarely done at the same time, at least in the past couple of decades! That being said, balancing a professional football career and Olympic appearances has been proven to be manageable by some of our star NFL players, including Ebner. Nicknamed “Bullet,” Bob Hayes is a two-time gold medalist in the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay in the 1964 Olympics held in Tokyo. He was also drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 1964 NFL Draft and went on to win the 1971 Super Bowl with the Cowboys, which marked him as the only athlete ever to win a Super Bowl ring and an Olympic gold medal.
Many NFL athletes have also made incredible appearances on the U.S. Olympic team and football field. Two NFL players also participated on the U.S. Olympic team for a sport you wouldn’t expect: bobsleighing! Drafted in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys, Herschel Walker was a running back who played in the NFL from 1985 to 1997. During his time in the NFL, Walker competed in the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France for the bobsled team. He competed in the two-man competition, where he and his partner finished seventh. Following in Walker’s footsteps. Johnny Quinn was a wide receiver who signed with the Buffalo Bills in 2007 as an undrafted free agent and later signed in 2008 with the Green Bay Packers. During the 2010-11 season, Quinn bobsledded in the U.S. team trials in Lake Placid, NY, where his team finished third. He was then selected for the 2014 U.S. bobsled team set to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, on the two-man team, where he placed 10th. These two athletes make up two-thirds of NFL players who also competed in the Winter Olympics. Jeremy Bloom competed in freestyle skiing at the 2002 and 2006 Winter Olympics before signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2006 NFL Draft and the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2007. These three Olympians mark the only three to ever sign with an NFL team and participate in the Winter Olympics.
It’s fair to say that NFL players are incredibly athletic, as we have seen throughout their careers on the gridiron. What makes their athleticism even more impressive is when you get the full athletic story that shaped them into the highest-performing athletes they’ve become. Whether they started with another sport and found their love for football, or they pursued other athletic careers following their NFL playing, these athletes have proven their abilities in more ways than one. Drafted twice and signed once (or multiple times, who’s counting Bud Grant), these players have proven to be amazing in all sports they’ve pursued. I wonder when we’ll see an NFL player take on the NHL next.
Edited by Madison Roost
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