A.J. Brown, outfielder?
Rest easy, Tennessee Titans fans -- the star wide receiver surely knows which sport butters his bread. But the former 19th-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres hinted via social media this week that he still has an itch for hardball, tipping his cap to former Raiders-Royals two-sport star Bo Jackson in so doing.
"Sometimes I think about playing both sports again," Brown tweeted. "@Padres, all I need is a workout."
"I promise I will do better than Michael Jordan in baseball," he joked in a follow-up tweet.
The reality, of course, is that Brown is about to cash in on his football talents like he never has before. His rookie contract expires after next season, and beyond that, a bank-breaking second contract beckons in 2023. Brown pulled in 869 receiving yards for the Titans and was at times the focal point of the team's offense when running back Derrick Henry was out with a foot injury. Had he not missed four games, he almost certainly would have notched his third 1,000-yard receiving season in his third year in the league. This is no time for a career switch.
But if Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson can dabble in a spring training sideshow, why not Brown?
The Titans star wide receiver, drafted by the Padres in 2016, was entirely legit as a baseball prospect. He grew up with a batting cage in his backyard, and learned to pitch throwing hedge apples into a thicket on his father's property.
A star centerfielder at Starkville (Miss.) High, Brown was selected for the 2015 UnderArmour All-America team -- a collection of a few dozen of the most promising high school baseball talents in the country. A few members of that squad are already in the big leagues -- Brown batted behind Toronto Blue Jays star infielder Bo Bichette in the all-star game, and cracked a single in three at bats. A key reason he fell to the 19th round was that MLB clubs were rightly convinced he'd choose football, and didn't want to waste too high a draft pick on someone they wouldn't be able to sign.
If they couldn't woo him then, they certainly won't do it now, with his football career reaching a peak.
But a Wilson-like lark would make for some spring fun, anyway.
