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Rickey Henderson says he wanted to play in the NFL but A's wouldn't let him

Mike Oz

Here’s a “what could have been” scenario to dream about: Baseball Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson wanted to play in the NFL and become a two-way star like Bo Jackson. He even got an offer from the Oakland Raiders.

It never happened, but could you imagine?

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In a recent interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Henderson recounted his flirtation with football. He said it happened right after Bo Jackson had started to play baseball and football. Henderson even talked to Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis about it, but the Oakland Athletics weren’t having it.

Rickey Henderson wanted to be a two-sport star and play for the Raiders, but the A's said no. (AP)
Rickey Henderson wanted to be a two-sport star and play for the Raiders, but the A’s said no. (AP)

Henderson told the Chronicle:

“When Bo Jackson first came into the league, I went to Al Davis to go play football and he was going to let me be a two-way player,” Henderson said. “The Oakland A’s said, ‘Oh, no way. You’re not going out there. That’s not going to happen.’

“That was my chance and I missed it. I always used to tell Bo and Deion Sanders, ‘I could have done that, played both sports, but the A’s said they weren’t going to let me.’ That was my dream.”

The context to all this a bit richer when you consider Kyler Murray, Oakland’s first-round draft pick last season, who went on to win the Heisman Trophy before opting to pursue an NFL career instead of joining the A’s. Rickey didn’t quite have as much success in football as Murray, but he was a star running back in high school and was recruited to play college football at USC and Arizona.

It makes sense that the A’s (or any baseball team, really) wouldn’t have wanted Henderson playing in the NFL — especially if he were getting beat up as a running back.

But it’s quite the “What if …” isn’t it?

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Mike Oz is a writer at Yahoo Sports. Contact him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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