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Kyler Murray should play baseball, not football, because baseball is a real sport

<> at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on June 15, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Thearon W. Henderson)

On Dec. 29, Kyler Murray's football career came to a close with a 45-34 loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Well, his college football career, at least: Murray was taken ninth overall by the A's in the 2018 Draft and came to terms on a deal with Oakland that would allow him to play one more season at Oklahoma ... but his one season was so outrageous (he won the Heisman, after all) that some wondered whether he would, or should, give up the gridiron for good.
On Monday, after a delegation of A's representatives visited Murray in Dallas, the 21-year-old declared for the NFL Draft. Still, he has time to think about it -- under his MLB deal, he's allowed to report for Spring Training in February. Which is good to hear, because really, the choice is obvious: Kyler Murray should keep on playing baseball, because baseball -- unlike football -- is a real sport.
1. What even is football?
Seriously, six points for a touchdown? Three points for kicking the ball through a set of goalposts? A ball shaped like Hey Arnold's head that could bounce in any direction at any time? With baseball, what you see is what you get: Pitch ball, hit ball, catch ball. A player crosses the plate, that team scores a run. True, honorable competition doesn't rely on gimmick and novelty, and frankly, it's beneath an athlete of Murray's caliber.
2. Pace of play
Sure, Murray will have to deal with some downtime as an outfielder -- but not nearly as much as he'd have to deal with playing football, a sport which features 11 total minutes of playing time during a three-hour game. Why would a man of Murray's immense athletic talents willingly spend so much of his time just standing around, waiting for stuff to happen? The world deserves to watch him constantly in action, whether it's tracking a fly ball or stepping up to the plate or running the bases.
3. Marketing
In addition to being a generational athlete, Murray is also, let's face it, a very good-looking guy. Wait, what's that? You don't actually know what Murray looks like? Is it because he spent every Saturday hiding under some sort of z-grade Voltron costume?

For comparison, here's what Murray looks like playing baseball:

Which one of those two photos would you most want to put on a magazine cover? 
4. Snacks in the dugout
Can you imagine a football player getting to casually eat some ice cream while sitting on the bench? Snacks are an essential part of anyone's daily routine. These are the things you need to think about, Kyler.
5. Celebrations
Speaking of football taking itself too seriously: Football will penalize you for expressing yourself. Using props? Penalty. Inappropriately going to the ground? Penalty. Doing something that some official could possibly interpret as taunting? Definitely a penalty.
Would he rather score a touchdown and immediately begin stressing about what he can or can't do, or hit a dinger and flip his bat into the stratosphere without a care in the world?

The choice is yours, Kyler.

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