Baseball Players Who Play High School Football

Would you then include any HS sport?  Basketball players, in my experience, also have a lot of ACLs torn.  How about the HS baseball player already committed?  Would you tell them to forego HS since they have already committed to a collegiate team?   

Side note, I had several of my HS players play both football and basketball since I coached at a small HS.  One was fortunate to play both football and baseball at U of Iowa.  I have had one play basketball and baseball in college. 

@CoachB25 - I said football because that's what happened in both instances. But, I guess you can substitute basketball as well.

My son was a baseball and basketball player when he was younger. And he was pretty good at his age when he was 8 through 11.

But, the reality was that his dad (me) is 5-10. His mom is 5-4. And both of his grandfathers are under 6 feet tall. He was never going to be tall enough to play basketball at older ages. And, he was always getting hurt on the court because he was aggressive and the wood is unforgiving. Finally, he had to miss the start of his 12u baseball spring because of two fractured fingers from playing basketball in February.

We (us and him) decided it wasn't worth it and he stopped playing basketball.

No regrets either.

Whether it is worth it or not is up to the individual, but I am tired of the wokeness about playing multiple sports. Kids should do whatever they want to do for sure, but the ESPN broadcasters shouldn't have to mention during the LLWS that the players play other sports every five minutes. I understand that this is their directive, as ESPN gets alot of flax for exploiting the kids and broadcasting this youth baseball event. But it has gone too far and I am tired of people asking me if my kid plays other sports.

It remains to be seen how the two anecdotal examples that you provided will work out, but if their goal was indeed to play college baseball, it is difficult to see how it was worth it unless that wanted to be a two sport athlete and also play football in college.

So to provide a less woke, unqualified repsonse, no it was not worth it.

Francis, sounds like you did the right thing wrt basketball. Totally logical. Who knows if Francis Jr would have signed his NLI if you had followed some other path because of wokeness or flawed logic.

Honestly you can get injured with anything. Sure football is risky but you can also tear your pec bench pressing or tear your Achilles when sprinting.

I probably wouldn't recommend playing football in your senior year for a potential first round draft pick but you can't stop living for the next two years just because you have committed to college.

For me, it's this:

If you are a legitimate multiple sports stud who has sincere potential to excel and play sports beyond high school in a few different sports, by all means, play multiple sports in high school.

Or, if you're the kid who played multiple sports as a youngster because you loved them all, and, you have no intention to play sports after high school for whatever reason, then, by all means, play multiple sports in high school.

But, if your desire is to play only one particular sport after high school, and, your athletic skill set and physical attributes align with that same particular sport, then focus on that one sport after the 7th or 8th grade, and don't take chances with other sporting activities that are high risk of injury.

And, just to clarify. It's those sports with high risk of serious injury that should be avoided. If you want to be on the baseball team and the swimming team, that's not the same as playing baseball and football.  Or, if you want to do baseball and bowling, who cares? It's the sports where 11 large people are trying to hit you as hard as possible and knock you to the ground where there's risk. There's plenty of second sports options where that's not happening if you really want to do something other than baseball to break it up.

@Francis7 swimming can be just as bad/worse especially for a pitcher because of the overhand motion. Just sayin’ 😂

The best you can do is live your life the way you choose. Stuff happens! If athletes could avoid injuries they would.

We didn’t let our son play football until middle school. He stepped right in and quickly advanced beyond most of the kids who had been playing Pop Warner for a few years. The varsity coach wanted to prime him to become the varsity QB junior year.

My son decided summer before freshman year he didn’t want to play football anymore. He was concerned he would get injured and miss basketball and baseball.

Even though soccer was always his best sport he was going to give up soccer. He figured he needed the fall for fall ball and “optional” basketball work.

By the end of the first week of September he was bored not playing a fall sport. He begged the varsity soccer coach to put him in the program. He went from JV to starting varsity goalie by the end of freshman year.

Soph year he was cut from the basketball program despite being the starting freshman point guard. There were knowledgeable basketball people who thought he would be in the varsity rotation soph year. He was cut for not playing summer league basketball and missing all optional workouts. The basketball coach preferred one sport athletes. His only two sport athletes tended to be 6’5” to 6’7”. My son was playing three sports.

So, now he’s a soccer player and a baseball player. He never got hurt playing football. He never got hurt playing basketball. He was momentarily paralyzed (a minute seemed like hours) playing soccer when he took a knee into his neck making a headlong, diving save. He tore his MCL and PCL on a fluke baseball collision at the plate scoring on a short blocked wild pitch. He fell and separated his shoulder requiring surgery during rehab.

His baseball injuries caused him to miss the most crucial recruiting summer and soccer that fall.

The moral of the story? Have no fear. Live your life. If you want something badly enough it will all work out. It did for him.

I played football, basketball and baseball in high school and baseball in college. I never got injured. I never broke a bone. I didn’t break a bone until my sixties when I got flipped off my bike and broke my hand landing on it. Biking isn’t a non contact sport when you’re around Massachusetts drivers.

Woke has nothing to do it. Encouraging 10, 11 and 12 year old kids to play other sports is healthy.

Son played basketball until his senior year. As an oversized position player, it kept him agile, fast, athletic and hungry for baseball season. Baseball overuse injuries on his first HS team (shoulders, backs, elbows) were proportionally as common as basketball injuries. He chose not to play basketball his senior year and we were absolutely supportive of that decision but overall I think the benefits outweighed the risk for him.

I think @Dominik85 nailed it. Injuries happen. So Each kid and family has to make their own decision and own it.

We got to know the HS basketball pretty well - he encouraged and hoped his players would play football in the fall. Did kids get injured - yep, sh*t happens, but beyond the different muscles used - other sports create/cause certain team dynamics and reliance to allow players to realize they're not "it" at everything. A few may be, but it's hard to be the best at 3 sports unless you play all 3 year round which as most parents probably realize means you have no time for anything else. In the long run it's about building up a certain mental toughness that coaches like. Future employers like former athletes too - personally driven and understanding of team dynamics. I think the NCAA runs a commercial series on that - some find it annoying, but there is truth to it! ;-)...

When my kids grew up we "competed" against the s sport in the spring for baseball players. Drove me nuts to see them require 8-12 year olds to play 3 seasons in order to stay on some travel team. I feel they were using the "status" of travel for some parents minds as the primary motivator. When we started Fall baseball I would tell kids/parents - the s sport is the in season sport, choose that and then be a fill-in at baseball. That is if you're not playing s, then come to the baseball field - we'll treat it like a pickup game and put your kid out there. We ran our rosters with 10 players (small town).

fwiw: Son#1 did play hs football, he did get injured (broken jaw) in Soph year, but still continued to play football & baseball. He gave up hoops after 1 season (hard to get a spot after missing soph season - he tried though)... He switched to the other side and was one of the leaders in the student section... His Sr year for baseball a new coach made it clear that he was going to "play" the Jr's... None of the Sr's came out and my son got into a bit of trouble writing a letter to the editor detailing why the group of 8 Sr's chose not to play. In college, he played 1 year of football at a D3 high academic, ended up being the treasurer, then president of the baseball/football fraternity, and a leader in the greek council. In my mind, all his sports activities helped shape him and understand interpersonal dynamics that one may not see playing just 1 sport and are considered the best.

Of course kids should be exposed to all the sports or activities they are interested in doing.   Part of being a kid is learning what you like to do and what you are good at.   Sometimes that includes doing some things that you don't like or aren't good at.   I played high school football in MA as a freshman and sophomore until we moved to CT half way through my junior year..still haven't forgiven my parents for that situation.  I liked football, but there was absolutely no future there as I was built like Doug Flutie with absolutely none of his talent.  I knew it.   My only opportunity to play a sport (not football or baseball)  at the next level was to work hard on that sport and skillset, and try to walk on.  I did and I was a fixture for 4 years.

I think kids are more self aware than we give them credit for, and that is why I think some make the decision to continue playing football or not.  It is a mindset, and I think some kids are aware of their limitations and instinctively know to play multiple sports or to just focus on baseball or any particular sport.  My oldest son is a very logical thinker.   In his mind, I can see him thinking to himself that football provides no value in terms of time invested or exposure in his college baseball dreams.   The best thing for him to do is focus on baseball in the Fall and Spring.

JMO.

You give up time to develop sport specific skills by being a multi sport athlete.  You also give up your off-season to a different sport and loose recovery time, both mentally and physically.  Competing year round can accelerate burn out.  Injuries are also a concern.

Conversely, playing other sports can rest specific muscles and hone complementary skills.  It can yield a fresh perspective and enhance drive.

It depends on the player and the situation.   There isn't a cookie cutter answer.  Frequently specializing is required to advance to the next level.  When to specialize depends on the player.

My kid played Varsity shot put. He chucked a 12 pound ball with every ounce of strength almost daily. He does a run and gun with a 5 oz ball and he is getting surgery for a fracture. Moral of the story, all sports have an inherent risk of injury.

I would say to play as many sports early on as possible and keep playing them as long as possible until the player picks a sport that he wants to specialize in.  For most having to pick a single sport may never come as they will not play past high school or college and will have the lifetime memories of playing multiple sports in high school.

In my opinion, playing multiple sports (especially football) builds the competitiveness and grit that is needed to succeed at the highest levels.  It also develops overall athleticism because of the different athletic movements required with each sport.

My son stopped playing football after his freshman year on his own and still has some level of regret for missing out on playing on that big stage on Friday nights with his friends and classmates.   Even though he has played on some huge stages already in baseball(18U team USA, D1 baseball) that may not have been possible if he had continued to play both sports.  Either way it needs to be the kids decision as it is their life and parents need to allow them to make these type of decisions.

My kiddo loves football he’s actually good at it. Basketball is also a love but he can’t play it to save his life. 10 years playing basketball ball and he look like he never played it. In HS we explain how football is amazing and he’s super talented but his love is baseball. He decided (we suggested in a nice way) he wanted to skip football and focus on baseball only. He didn’t want to miss baseball class! The risk of injury was huge for football. Being a LHP with power, command and location in the making/works it was too hard to play football just for fun. He justify it by saying the team really is not good actually very bad!
when football games roll around my heart yearn seeing him on the field. Basketball is now and he have no desire to play.
At first I felt horrible to suggest giving up football but looking at it now - it worked out better with him focus on one sports.
one day every one has to make a decision to hang up the cleats. For our child he played 4 sports until he walked into high school. Now it’s 💯 baseball.
He knew baseball would be his ultimate sports since he was 3.
Let the kid make his decision! They are smarter than what we give them credit for. Even tho we suggested it’s time - deep down he wanted it to be time.
Now his whole world is focus on his only love! Baseball!

I agree that Football, with it's 2 a days and tough culture is great for raising a gritty athlete.  I have a 2025 LHP who is 6ft 175lbs and wants to play high school tackle football (for the first time!; flag only before!) next season.   I told him flat out "No.  No discussion".   This is a kid who is the 1 or 2 LHP in state.  While he hasn't verbally committed yet like a few of his teammates (crazy people), he's certainly getting a lot of interest.   As much as I like some of the benefits of football, one has to be practical.   While you could get a knee, back, head, clavicle, hand injury just randomly in life, a sport like football in the sophomore year has to exponentially increase the risk.  I feel a little like a helicopter parent but you gotta just do the best you can as a parent.  That one didn't pass my sniff test.

My experience is that many college baseball coaches really like kids who played football in high school. I think it likely has to do with some of the mental and physical toughness that comes with football. I bet many college coaches would say one of their biggest challenges is kids who are soft or entitled. Baseball players who also excel in football, maybe in general are not so much like that.

My son played football mostly to be hanging with the guys, I think. We talked about it but I totally left it up to him. He had no real passion or great talent for it. On the other hand he was a pitcher with great potential. It was obvious he could play in college and he loved it. I would watch him play football and I'd find myself thinking to myself "please don't let him get hurt, please don't let him get hurt". And guess what. He got hurt. A bad knee injury. His junior year of baseball was mostly wiped out. Thankfully he had a tremendous senior year of high school and got to play in college.

My son ended up on the football team even though he played soccer and almost never went to football practice. The football coach saw him punt a soccer ball (he was a goalie) the length of the soccer field. He had him try it with a football. He became the punter for the football team. He tried place kicking. But he didn’t have time to spend on learning to elevate the ball. The previous soccer/kicker went to kicking camp and kicked for a college in D1. The football players didn’t tease him much (it was all in good fun except one kid) since they knew he could have played football.