Tim Tebow To Pursue Baseball Career: 7 Famous Athletes Who Switched Pro Sports

Stop me if this sounds familiar: Tim Tebow is attempting a comeback. This time, however, the former NFL quarterback isn't trying to get back under-center, instead opting for a change in sports.

Tebow, the former Heisman-winner at the University of Florida, is now looking to make his pro sports comeback in baseball, ESPN reported. The 29-year-old lefty was once a very promising baseball prospect, but it's been quite a while since he took to the diamond. Tebow last played as a junior at Florida's Nease High School, where he earned All-State honors hitting .494.

"€œWe wanted to draft him," said baseball scout Tom Kotchman who was with the Los Angeles Angels back in the mid-aughts when Tebow was deciding which sport to pursue, in an interview with Boston's WEEI. "€œBut he never sent back his information card."

Another scout told WEEI that Tebow certainly had some talent, which seemed to mirror some of his strengths on the football field. "€œHe had a strong arm and had a lot of power," Boston Red Sox scout Stephen Hargett said. "If he would have been there his senior year he definitely would have had a good chance to be drafted."

Tebow, currently an ESPN analyst, is reportedly hosting a workout at the end of the month and will invite all 30 MLB franchises. While he may have had some baseball talents, he has been away from the game for more than a decade and is nearing 30, practically a senior citizen in athletic terms.

Here are seven famous examples of multi-sport athletes who had some success in what Tebow is set to attempt.

Bo Jackson

One of the greatest natural athletes of all time, Jackson played four seasons in the NFL as a running back as well as eight seasons in the MLB as an outfielder. He earned both a Pro Bowl and All Star Game selection before injuries derailed his career.

Michael Jordan

The greatest basketball player of all time took a memorable mid-career break to try his hand at baseball. He mostly struggled, batting just .202 in the minor leagues before returning to the NBA.

Herschel Walker

Walker was an elite football player, winning the Heisman in college and spending more than a decade in the NFL, rushing for more than 8,000 yards in his career. But he's reinvented himself a couple of times as an athlete. He made the 1992 Olympic bobsled team as a pusher while still playing in the NFL. Later, he pursued a mixed martial arts career and has won a couple of bouts in his 50s. The 54-year-old still wants to fight more.

Brian Jordan

Jordan spent three seasons in the NFL and more than a decade in MLB. He made an All Star team in both sports, once with the Atlanta Braves in 1999 and once as a Pro Bowl selection in 1992 with the Atlanta Falcons.

Drew Henson

He's a bit lesser known than some of the athletes on this list, but he had a solid career in the NFL and was once a promising MLB prospect. He played just eight games with the New York Yankees and had one in nine appearances. It was a disappointing career for a third round pick. But Tom Brady's one-time backup at the University of Michigan reinvented himself as an NFL quarterback. He played seven games for the Dallas Cowboys in 2004, including a start on Thanksgiving Day.

Deion Sanders

The dual-sport phenom known as "Primetime" was one of the best cornerbacks in NFL history and a solid MLB player. He even hopped on flights immediately after games to rush from one sport to the other. The football Hall of Famer in 1994 batted .283 and stole 38 bases in just 92 MLB games. He batted .304 in 1992 and, again, baseball was his second-best sport (He was an NFL Pro Bowl selection and first-team All Pro player in 1992 as well).

A whole host of quarterbacks were solid MLB prospects

When considering elite quarterbacks, there are some obvious skills that translate well for baseball. Here's just a few who were drafted by an MLB team: New England Patriot Tom Brady, Seattle Seahawk Russell Wilson, troubled free agent Johnny Manziel, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Jameis Winston, Hall of Famers John Elway and Dan Marino, and free agent Michael Vick, who had such a strong arm and was so fast he was selected by the Colorado Rockies despite not playing baseball since he was a middle-schooler.