Most NFL Quarterbacks were Multi-sport High School Athletes

For many high school student-athletes – and their parents – the path to a college scholarship is believed to be found through single-sport specialization. The theory is that year-round focus on one sport improves an athlete's skills and exposure to college coaches and recruiters.

However, in addition to building different skill sets and avoiding burnout, the multi-sport athlete is still highly coveted by most college coaches. The following tweet went viral last month showing a white board with the number of multi-sport recruits Urban Meyer had brought to Ohio State University. It underscores that idea that multi-sport athletes are more desirable.

Out of the 47 recruits for D 1 Football National Champion Ohio State Univeraity, 42 were multi-sport athletes. pic.twitter.com/OUHfaukwg9

— GuilderlandAthletics (@GoDutchAthletix) January 26, 2015

Further, a recent ESPN survey of 128 NFL quarterbacks (73 active and 55 retired) found that 122 had been multi-sport athletes in high school. Nearly 70 percent had played three or more sports.