The 2026 NFL Draft begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET. To help celebrate the massive event, World Baseball Network looks at some NFL players from the past and the present who were drafted by Major League Baseball Teams
Kyler Murray, Drafted by the Athletics in 2018
In March of 2026, Kyler Murray signed a one-year, $1.3 million contract with the Minnesota Vikings.
Nearly eight years before this, the NFL quarterback was a promising baseball prospect out of the University of Oklahoma. In the 2018 MLB Draft, he was selected 9th overall by the Oakland Athletics.
After being selected by the A’s, Murray went on to win the Heisman trophy for the Oklahoma Sooners and chose an NFL career. He was the first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
The 2026-27 NFL season will be Murray’s eighth year of professional football. He has 20,460 career passing yards and 121 career passing touchdowns.
Russell Wilson, Drafted by the Orioles and Rockies
Russell Wilson has had an illustrious career. He is a Super Bowl champion and a 10-time Pro Bowler.
However, the 14-year veteran quarterback was also selected in two separate MLB Drafts. In 2007, the Baltimore Orioles selected him in the 41st round while he was at Collegiate School in Richmond, Va.
Wilson went on to play college baseball for North Carolina State, where he was an infielder from 2008 to 2010. Wilson also played football for N.C. State and transferred to play a final season for the Wisconsin Badgers in 2011.
Before his final college football season with Wisconsin, Wilson was selected in the 2010 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round.
Wilson ended up choosing an NFL career, and the Seattle Seahawks selected him with the 75th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Jameis Winston, Drafted by the Rangers in 2012
Jameis Winston enjoyed a successful football and baseball career in college at Florida State.
However, before he won the 2013 national championship and Heisman trophy, Winston was drafted as a promising high school baseball prospect.
The Texas Rangers selected Winston with the 15th round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of Hueytown High School in Alabama.
Winston chose the collegiate career route for the Seminoles in Tallahassee instead. He went on to be the first overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him.
Winston has put together an 11-year NFL career as a quarterback with 24,792 career passing yards and 156 passing touchdowns.
Tom Brady, Drafted by the Expos in 1995
Before putting together the greatest NFL career in the history of football, the Montreal Expos took a chance on Tom Brady as a baseball prospect.
In the 1995 MLB Draft, the Expos picked Brady with the 507th overall pick. Brady was still playing for Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif.
Brady chose to have a college football career for the Michigan Wolverines instead. He went on to be selected in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
Brady’s NFL career, which spanned from 2000 to 2022, included seven Super Bowls, three Most Valuable Player awards, 15 Pro Bowls, 89,214 career passing yards, and 649 career passing touchdowns.
John Elway, Drafted by the Royals and Yankees
Much like Wilson, two-time Super Bowl champion John Elway was drafted twice by MLB teams.
In the 1979 MLB Draft, the Kansas City Royals selected Elway in the 18th round, but he did not sign with the team.
In 1981, the New York Yankees took a chance on Elway and selected him in the second round. Elway played one season in New York’s minor league system in 1982.
However, he went on to have a long NFL career that lasted from 1983 to 1998. The Baltimore Colts selected him first overall in the 1983 NFL Draft before he was traded to the Denver Broncos, where he spent the rest of his career.
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PHOTO: In this June 15, 2018, file photo, Oakland Athletics draft pick Kyler Murray looks on before a baseball game between the Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels in Oakland, Calif. Representatives of the Athletics and Major League Baseball met Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019, with Heisman Trophy winner Murray, a day before the Oklahoma quarterback’s deadline to enter the NFL draft, a person with direct knowledge of the session said. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
