The end of the Super Bowl for some marks the beginning of baseball season. Russell Wilson, the youngest victorious Super Bowl quarterback winner in NFL history, made baseball news this offseason when the Texas Rangers selected Wilson with their pick in the 2014 Rule 5 draft from none other than the Colorado Rockies. If there was a 2% chance that Wilson would play baseball again, that went out the door for sure with tonight's Seattle Seahawks victory. Watching Wilson win reminded me of a couple players with Philadelphia ties who also
Photo Courtesy USA Today
Ricky Williams – Running Back, Phillies Draft Pick
Williams was the one that so many Eagles fans wanted instead of Donovan McNabb in the 1998 NFL draft. We all remember radio host Angelo Cataldi sending the "Dirty 30" to the draft and infamously booing the selection of McNabb. But on the day of the draft, Williams was Phillies property and was coming off a season at Class A Batavia in which he hit .283 and played center field.
Had the Eagles drafted Williams, the Phillies organization would have had both the Golden Spikes winner (Pat Burrell) and Heisman Trophy winner in their organization. Like Russell, Williams was snagged by the Texas Rangers via the Montreal Expos in the Rule 5 draft. Williams never again pursued baseball, but Texas ownership sure seemed interested in having football players around.
Courtesy Philly.com
Riley Cooper – Wide Receiver, Phillies Draft Pick
Riley Cooper could have gone either way: football or baseball. The now-highly controversial wide receiver for the Eagles was a promising baseball player. The Phillies drafted Cooper in the 15th round of the 2006 draft. Instead of signing with the Phillies, Cooper instead went to the University of Florida, where he played both baseball and football.
But, that was not the end of Cooper's time with MLB. The Texas Rangers (yes, the same Texas Rangers) drafted cooper in the 2009 MLB draft. Cooper signed and was supposed to finish out college and then come to camp with the Rangers to play baseball. But, Cooper was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles and chose them over baseball. Too bad he wasn't playing baseball in the summer instead of going to concerts in Camden…
