When the bright lights of the gridiron shine, some athletes take the call after first dribbling a basketball or smacking a baseball. For Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love, the crack of the bat initially captured his youthful passion before the pigskin stole his heart.
During a mic’d-up segment at a Dodgers game in collaboration with the Bleacher Report, Love said, “I played baseball till middle school and I stopped playing.. once the pitches started getting faster. I was like, shoot.” His reaction to a ball nearly nailing in the stands showed a baseball fanboy, “I ain’t going to lie, I froze up. I seen that coming. I said that better not be coming over here cuz I’m not catching that.”
Love’s baseball nostalgia was on full display. Whether it was admiring a stolen base with glee, “That’s my stuff, that’s excited!” or missing Mookie Betts’ home run despite his plea, “I need to see a home run, I got to see!” The QB couldn’t help but get wrapped up in the drama of the diamond until the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory over Giants.
Love’s baseball journey didn’t just end in middle school. His talent on the diamond carried over to high school, where he excelled as a dual-sport athlete. “Believe it or not, in college in the summertime I used to be umpire in baseball games,” Love revealed. “I literally be out here umpire baseball games. I be getting cussed out by parents…it’s like 8 to 12 year olds, hey really.”
This path from base paths to end zones is a well-trodden one in the sports world. Legends like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders have shown that elite athleticism often transcends a single playing field.
As Love etches his name into Packers lore, his baseball roots serve as a reminder that greatness can bloom from unexpected soil. That seamless transition echoes the journey of a fellow quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, who navigated a similar fork in the road.
Mahomes played with the bat and the ball, just like Jordan Love
Before etching his name in NFL lore, Mahomes was a multi-sport phenom, with baseball scouts drooling over his cannon of an arm and pure athleticism. In true gunslinger fashion, he even tossed a 16-strikeout no-hitter in high school, leaving opposing batters buckled at the knees.