When the Heisman Trophy is awarded in New York on Saturday night, Kyler Murray of the Oklahoma Sooners takes center stage. Murray, 21, is one of three finalists for the award. It could be the start of a big football career. Maybe Murray does not want that, because he has other career opportunities.

The Heisman Trophy is the annual best college football player in the US. Cam Newton, Marcus Mariota and Baker Mayfield have also won the trophy, all three playing in the NFL and becoming stars there.

The trophy is like a ticket to the NFL: whoever wins it shows that he has what it takes to be a star. This also applies to Murray. "I think I could play in the NFL," he said recently. And with this assessment he is not alone. Experts of the sports channel ESPN assume that Murray will be selected in the NFL draft in the first round. Whether he lands in the Heisman election in first place, two or three, should make no big difference there.

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Athletes with several disciplines: Once is not a time

No college quarterback did better

In Oklahoma, Murray has made a sensational development. Last season, he was still behind Baker Mayfield, but when he moved to the NFL after a senior year, the way was clear for Murray. He threw in the 13 season games 40 touchdown passes (at seven interceptions) and ran even to eleven touchdowns. Since ESPN first collected the data of all college quarterbacks in 2004, no other player could match Murray's quarterback rating of 96.0.

Millions of teenagers dream of the NFL, but for the vast majority of those dreams will only ever be a dream. Kyler Murray has the talent to play in the NFL, only she is not his only dream.

Because Murray is one of the greatest talents in the country, even if you take away the football and instead presses a baseball bat in the hand. In this year's draft of the professional league MLB he was selected ninth place by the Oakland Athletics. He has already signed a contract from the summer of 2019, he will then earn four million euros a year.

Like Bo Jackson once?

It happens occasionally in sports that teens are talented in several sports, especially in the USA. One reason for this is the sports system, which is not organized by clubs like in Germany, but by the schools and their teams. Football, for example, is played in the fall, while baseball is often offered in the spring. Children and adolescents can do several sports without having to commit early.

The fact that Murray has the makings of a professional in both sports may be related to his inheritance of talent. The father was a college quarterback for the traditional Texas A & M Aggies, the uncle's professional baseball player.

But most of all, it's a rare mix of physical abilities: Murray is athletic, so he can escape the defenders in football. In baseball, athleticism helps him catch difficult balls in his outfielder position. And Murray is fast. This makes him a so-called "dual-threat" quarterback in football, which can both throw and run himself. In baseball, speed helps him to run between the bases as well as in the infield. Murray also has the arm strength he needs for throwing baseball and football.

You have to go back a quarter century in the history of US sports to find a similar all-rounder in both sports like Murray. Bo Jackson won the 1985 Heisman Trophy as Runningback and then played for several years in the NFL and MLB. In both leagues, he was one of the best - just like Deion Sanders, who not only was the only player to deny a NFL and MLB game in one day, but also reached the NFL Super Bowl and the MLB World Series only.

Such a dual career seems no longer possible today, the sport has meanwhile developed enormously. Murray will probably have to choose a path - even if it is obviously difficult for him. "I love both sports," Murray said in a recent ESPN interview. And: "My future is pretty planned right now, but we'll see what happens."

His advisor confirmed to the "San Francisco Chronicle" that Murray wanted to fulfill his agreement with the Athletics and participate in the spring season preparation.

At least the near future of Kyler Murray is clear. The NFL has to wait, Murray will first try as a professional baseball player. He will surely win the prize on Saturday anyway.