Iowa football player Cooper DeJean is my hero.
I watched this guy Saturday night against Michigan State and he put on a show. First off he intercepted a pass in the end zone when the Spartans were driving for a touchdown. Second, he ran back a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown. He also had six tackles from his DB spot. I researched this remarkable athlete and found out he played multiple sports in high school. Football, basketball, baseball and track. That’s incredible.
There has always been a lot of talk about athletes who play multiple sports. Some say it helps, others believe in specializing. Everyone has an opinion, it’s all subjective. Because you can find many athletes who have performed well at two or more sports but you could also find athletes that have done well concentrating on one sport.
Every year you see graphics/stats about NFL draftees and how many of them played multiple sports in high school. There is evidence to validate the multiple sport path, but there is also facts on supporting specializing.
I believe at a certain age one must start to concentrate on a single sport. Maybe the 11th or 12th grade? Especially if they want to play at the collegiate level. When an athlete is young, try as many sports as you can and see which one you like the most and if you have a future in it.
I do know one thing, regardless of what path the athlete takes, there’s going to have to be sacrifice and a lot of hard work.
What I don’t like is seeing kids quit a sport that they are good at, give up in the 9th and 10th grades. “I wanna concentrate on ______” is what I often hear.
I just shake my head and respect what they want to do. It’s their life, right?
Guys like Deion Sanders, Bo Jackson, Charlie Ward and many others did it. They did it at a high level too. It can be done just takes some toughness, passion, discipline, commitment and motivation.
PLAY THE RIGHT WAY 