THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT, December 14, 2013
Leave it to the Texas Rangers to give me a good laugh on Thursday morning.
They selected Russell Wilson in the fifth round of the Major League Baseball Rule 5 Draft, and have now invited him to spring training near the end of February.
BARRING A setback - and who knows at this point - Wilson might be a little busy at that time of the year, whether it's somewhere on vacation or on a media tour following an MVP showing in the Super Bowl.
Just in case you forgot, Wilson dabbled in the sport for a few years out of college, even playing for the Tri-City Dust Devils of the Northwest League.
But he eventually left that behind him three years ago, playing his senior year at Wisconsin before spending the last two seasons as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks.
In two seasons at the Class A level, Wilson hit .229 with five homers and 26 RBIs.
With that kind of production, it's a wonder he didn't quite land on the Mariners' radar.
Wilson has said that he's 100 percent focused on football, but it really makes me wonder if given the chance, he could be the next to try to play two professional sports at once.
AS A kid, watching athletes like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders almost made you stop the television right then and there to see what they'd do next.
From the Seahawks being unable to tackle Jackson in a Monday Night Football game in the Kingdome to watching him homer in an All-Star Game, it didn't seem like he could do anything wrong.
Sanders was more known for his speed at cornerback and on the baseball field throughout his career.
Could Wilson do both? Maybe, but that doesn't mean he should try it.
He's likely to make way more money playing football in Seattle than any contract that he'd receive with the Rangers, with no guarantee that he'd be able to play with the big league club to begin with.
Who knows, maybe he'll wind up playing a few months with the Spokane Indians, the Class A short-season club of the Texas Rangers and give fans another reason to get out to Avista Stadium.
THE REALITY is that you don't see that many two-sport athletes anymore.
LeBron James has mentioned the idea a few times, but he's getting paid way too much money to risk playing a game in the NFL and missing time with the Miami Heat.
Some athletes are special, and both Jackson and Sanders were freaks of nature.
Wilson has done a ton of amazing things on the football field in just a short time.
I'm not sure anyone is hoping to see him on the diamond in the Northwest anytime soon.
Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.