Russell Wilson

By: Malou W

"If he continued to work and get the repetition, he could probably be as good as he is a football player," Washington said. Not to get ahead of ourselves, but Russell Wilson could possibly do what less than 70 players have accomplished: play both professional football and major league baseball.

Russell Wilson is an exceptional athlete who was born in Cincinnati, Ohio but grew up in Richmond, Virginia. However, he isn’t your everyday football jock, Wilson was selected by the Baltimore Orioles with the 5th pick in the 41st round (1222nd overall) of the 2007 MLB draft. Wilson was committed to play football at North Carolina State, and was faced with a huge decision to make: football or baseball.

Wilson hadn't been in a baseball uniform since 2011, when he played Class A ball with the Colorado Rockies, the team that drafted him in the fourth round in 2010 and signed him for $200,000. Wilson played parts of two seasons in Class A in 2010 and 2011, hitting a combined .229 in 315 at-bats with five homers and 26 RBIs.

"We wanted him in our organization," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "He's a winner and he goes about things the right way. He's driven, motivated and works hard. That's the kind of player and person we want around everyone on the club." Wilson was grateful for the opportunity but acknowledged it was a one-day deal. He said his focus will go back to football Tuesday. Also, he hopes to play in the NFL a long time and to do that in Seattle.

However,  if he ever gets the itch to play baseball again, the Rangers made it clear to him that they want him to do it in Texas. Daniels told Wilson when the Rangers selected him in the Rule 5 draft in December that the door was always open.

"It was one of those things that if I wanted to pursue it I could," Wilson said. "They wanted to be a part of me playing two sports if that ever came around."