Russell Wilson’s Baseball Dream Shouldn’t Be Written Off As Fantasy

Can a modern athlete successfully play two sports at the professional level?

Former NFL linebacker Matt Chatham doesn’t reject the notion outright.

“(C)an a player realistically do pro sports polygamy at a high level in today’s sports?” Chatham writes on FootballbyFootball.com. “Most would say ‘no’ based (reasonably) on the fact that nobody else does it. But this kind of question doesn’t have a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer — it’s more of a case-by-case situation.”

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is the latest to float the idea of doubling up. At least he has a solid foundation, having been taken in both the Major League Baseball first-year player draft and the Rule 5 draft. He even participated in spring training with the Texas Rangers.

But every athlete’s dual-sport future, like many things, is case by case.