Bo Jackson says Jameis Winston should 'follow his heart' about football and baseball
Bo Jackson can relate to the balancing act Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has been doing this spring with football and baseball.
Jackson was a two-sport star at Auburn before he played baseball and football professionally and said Saturday that Winston should "follow his heart" when it comes to both sports.
"If he thinks he can do it, then so be it – on the college level," Jackson told AL.com on Saturday at the Auburn spring game. "But trying to take it to the next level, it's going to be a little difficult because the talent pool on both sides. Plus he's going to make his living with his arm and I think if I was Jameis I would follow my heart because I did the same thing."
Winston is the closer for FSU's baseball team and he's from the same hometown, Bessemer, Al., as Jackson.
"People tried to tell me 'Well, he shouldn't do this,' and it wouldn't be right for me to say what he should do or shouldn't do," Jackson said. "I think he should follow his heart. He should experience success or failure on his own. I think he's man enough to do that and admit either way. I just wish him luck. He's from my hometown, so he's a homeboy. I wish him luck."
Winston has admitted he's been tired this spring as he played both football and baseball. After Florida State's spring game last week, it's baseball-only for the rest of the season.
Through 22 innings pitched, Winston has 21 strikeouts and a 1.23 ERA as Florida State's closer. But while Jackson was a transformative athlete in both sports, Winston's future as a star looks like it's in football. Since the seasons don't overlap, there's nothing wrong with Winston being a dual-sport athlete in college.
However, when he moves on after college, our guess is that his professional baseball career will resemble Russell Wilson's much more than Jackson's.
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is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @NickBromberg
