STUDY: Nearly 90% Of This Year’s NFL Draft Picks Played Multiple Sports in High School
There’s no doubt many college football recruiters prefer high school athletes who play multiple sports. Now there’s concrete evidence proving that multi-sport athletes have a significantly better chance than their single-sport counterparts of eventually making it to the NFL.
According to TrackingFootball.com, a website that compiles multi-sport participation data on high school and college football players, 88.5 percent of the players selected in the 2016 NFL Draft were multi-sport athletes in high school.
High school multiple sport participation totals for the #NFLDraft2016 #trckftbl https://t.co/2U6QT3NShm pic.twitter.com/enYiQGmmuZ
— Tracking Football ® (@TrckFootball) May 1, 2016
The three most popular sports among the draftees were track & field, basketball and baseball, with participation rates of 58.5, 45.1 and 11.1 percent, respectively.
The benefits of being a multi-sport athlete are immense. Playing different sports teaches your body to move in different ways and reinforces competitiveness. When Arizona Cardinals All-Pro defensive end Calais Campbell spoke to STACK about this topic, he outlined why he believes playing multiple sports helped him become a better football player.
“Playing multiple sports 100 percent made me a better athlete,” Campbell said. “When you play different sports, you’re forced to do different things. I learned quick-twitch stuff from basketball. Track and field, I learned about my stride, my jumping, my hip thrust. I actually even wrestled for a while, and that helped me learn leverage and momentum. It all transfers over and develops different muscle groups.”
If you’re a high school athlete who’s currently specializing in a single sport, it will be worth your while to expand your horizons. Not only will you become a better overall athlete, you’ll also attract more attention from college recruiters.
RELATED: 4 Reasons Why Multi-Sport High School Athletes Go On To Have Better Collegiate Careers
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STUDY: Nearly 90% Of This Year’s NFL Draft Picks Played Multiple Sports in High School
There’s no doubt many college football recruiters prefer high school athletes who play multiple sports. Now there’s concrete evidence proving that multi-sport athletes have a significantly better chance than their single-sport counterparts of eventually making it to the NFL.
According to TrackingFootball.com, a website that compiles multi-sport participation data on high school and college football players, 88.5 percent of the players selected in the 2016 NFL Draft were multi-sport athletes in high school.
High school multiple sport participation totals for the #NFLDraft2016 #trckftbl https://t.co/2U6QT3NShm pic.twitter.com/enYiQGmmuZ
— Tracking Football ® (@TrckFootball) May 1, 2016
The three most popular sports among the draftees were track & field, basketball and baseball, with participation rates of 58.5, 45.1 and 11.1 percent, respectively.
The benefits of being a multi-sport athlete are immense. Playing different sports teaches your body to move in different ways and reinforces competitiveness. When Arizona Cardinals All-Pro defensive end Calais Campbell spoke to STACK about this topic, he outlined why he believes playing multiple sports helped him become a better football player.
“Playing multiple sports 100 percent made me a better athlete,” Campbell said. “When you play different sports, you’re forced to do different things. I learned quick-twitch stuff from basketball. Track and field, I learned about my stride, my jumping, my hip thrust. I actually even wrestled for a while, and that helped me learn leverage and momentum. It all transfers over and develops different muscle groups.”
If you’re a high school athlete who’s currently specializing in a single sport, it will be worth your while to expand your horizons. Not only will you become a better overall athlete, you’ll also attract more attention from college recruiters.
RELATED: 4 Reasons Why Multi-Sport High School Athletes Go On To Have Better Collegiate Careers