Michael Jordan nearly chose NFL over MLB after retiring in 1993: David Halberstam

On October 6, 1993, Michael Jordan anunced his sudden decision to retire from NBA after winning his third straight title for Chicago Bulls. Jordan would n go on to play baseball for 18 months with White Sox's mir league system before returning to NBA. Michael Jordan's ten-part mini docu-series  Last Dance will be covering Jordan's baseball stint in upcoming episodes this Sunday (Monday IST). 

Michael Jordan NFL: Could re have been a Michael Jordan football career?

Before Michael Jordan signed a contract with White Sox, he h mentioned considering a career in football. In David Halberstam's book Playing For Keeps, Halberstam mentions an interview with Jordan which discusses a Michael Jordan football career. interview was a part of Sports Illustrated feature in January 1992 and talked about a Michael Jordan football career after his time in NBA. 

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In his book, Halberstam wrote about Jordan talking in detail about wanting to try major-league baseball and his dream of batting against a few of baseball's most skilled power pitchers. Jordan has also talked about trying professional football back n, which he considered as a greater challenge. He even revealed that he h talked about a career in NFL with his friend Richard Dent, who was Chicago Bears defensive end back n. He would apparently be a wide receiver but would t go after passes came through middle. 

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When he was young, Jordan also played football along with baseball and basketball. Reports suggest that if Jordan would have found a way 'to break containment at line of scrimm', he would have been a threat to players back in 90s due to his size. Jordan was six-foot-six and 218 pounds back n.

On or hand, Michael Irvin, who is one of most skilled receivers in that era, was six-foot-two and 207 pounds. Reports also state that while he would have h to work on his skills a lot, his size would have me him a 'nightmare' for defensive backs. If Jordan would have ended up playing NFL in 90s, he would have faced players like Deion Sanders, Darrell Green and Rod Woodson. 

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Michael Jordan MLB stats

Michael Jordan played baseball for over a year before returning to NBA. As per Michael Jordan MLB stats, he signed with  Chicago White Sox, batting .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, 114 strikeouts, 51 base on balls, and 11 errors.

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