NORMAN, Okla. — Former Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray said Saturday that while it was “obviously hard” to tell the Oakland Athletics he wouldn’t be playing baseball, he remains committed to pursuing the NFL.
“For me it was something I’ve known for a while,” Murray said of his football plans. “That organization, being with the A’s, was the best possible situation for me just because they were so great throughout the football season, kind of leaving me alone and letting me do my own thing, and at the same time letting me know how much I meant to them and that type of stuff. Telling them was tough.”
That doesn’t mean Murray, who was drafted with the ninth overall pick by the A’s last summer, is about to change his mind, as the A’s retain his baseball rights.
“I mean, they can hold out all the hope they want to,” Murray said. “I’m going to play football.”
While holding the Heisman Trophy, Murray was honored Saturday during a first half timeout in Oklahoma’s men’s basketball game against Texas at the Lloyd Noble Center.
He could become the first athlete ever to be drafted in the first round of both sports.
“The night I got drafted to the A’s — obviously it was a great day of my life — but I’ve been a football player my whole life,” Murray said. “I didn’t know how the NFL felt about me before this season because I hadn’t played.
“Going into this [football] season, [the goal] was to put myself in the best position possible. Obviously, when you win good things happen. A lot of good stuff happened this year.”
In his first season as Oklahoma’s starting quarterback, he led the Sooners to the College Football Playoff and captured the Heisman Trophy, giving the Sooners their second consecutive Heisman winner following 2017 winner Baker Mayfield.
Despite signing a contract with the A’s, Murray announced this month he would entering the NFL draft and would be playing football instead. He reiterated Saturday that he’ll be going to next week’s NFL combine, though still has yet to reveal how much he will be participating in Indianapolis.