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Read the story here. It's pretty good.
Posted on: August 25, 2025 at 12:16:53 CT
Willie705 MU
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He’s in an SEC QB battle. He also just signed with the Dodgers.
Jesse Dougherty
6–8 minutes
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office will closely watch the University of Missouri football team in the coming months.
Um. Why, exactly?
Sam Horn, one of two quarterbacks competing to be Missouri’s full-time starter, signed with the Dodgers last month, a few weeks after they selected him as a pitcher in the 17th round of the MLB draft. This is, at its core, a story of ridiculous athleticism, of an unbending, almost stubborn resolve to play both football and baseball at the highest levels. But it’s also a mirror for the big business of modern college sports.
By signing with the Dodgers, Horn forfeited the rest of his eligibility in college baseball. Before the MLB draft, though, his agent, Mark Rodgers, made it crystal clear that he would still play football for Missouri in the fall. Rodgers is an important character here. Well before meeting Horn, he represented Russell Wilson, Jeff Samardzija and many other athletes who tried to stick with both football and baseball as long as possible. For backyard athletes with zany dreams, he’s the guy to call.
“I call it the Peter Pan effect,” Rodgers said. “They want to be boys forever.”
So that’s what Horn is doing, just like he has always done. Because it’s August, he is on a football field, where both he and transfer Beau Pribula — the other side of the quarterback battle — will take snaps in Missouri’s opener against Central Arkansas on Thursday. And when spring comes around, Horn will decide whether he wants to begin his professional baseball career, at which point the Dodgers would welcome him to minor league camp.
And as for how the situation relates to big business: For amateur baseball prospects, a draft bonus is a golden chance to cash in before starting a long climb through the minors. Typically, those bonuses decrease with each passing pick, meaning a third- or fourth-round selection would usually make a lot more than a pitcher taken in the 17th. But because Horn is playing college football in 2025, he is also able to earn money at Missouri, where the Tigers will pay him in the low seven figures for the coming season, according to multiple people familiar with his latest deal.
That probably made maximizing his MLB draft bonus less of a consideration for him. Instead, Horn could sign with the Dodgers now, locking in a pro baseball opportunity when he is ready for it, and not worry about going higher — and making more — in a future draft when baseball teams wouldn’t have to worry about the risks of him playing more football. The Dodgers, on the other hand, were comfortable with Horn continuing in football because he was such a late selection. Their risk assessment worked on a sliding scale. MLB.com also reported that Horn signed with the Dodgers for just under $500,000, a value in line with the 144th pick, not the 525th (which he ultimately was). Again, this is a story about ridiculous athleticism and the leverage that comes with it. (Horn was not made available for an interview because of the ongoing quarterback competition.)
“There are not many chances you get this kind of talent late in the draft like we did and have the money for him,” said Billy Gasparino, the Dodgers’ vice president in charge of amateur scouting. “So I think it was the perfect storm how it all added up, and I think it’s like a really good deal for both parties. He gets to go scratch it up and play football one more time.
“Then we get an uber-talented pitcher come this spring if that doesn’t work out.”
That last bit from Gasparino is key. Depending on how the football season goes, Horn could try to keep going as a quarterback and further defer his baseball career. He received a portion of his bonus upon signing with the Dodgers, and then the team immediately put him on the restricted list. And while there’s a solid chance he does join the organization this spring, the uncertainty is one of the many reasons he was tricky for the Dodgers to scout.
They began their assessment of Horn in high school, quickly taking to him as a hard-throwing right-hander. Around that time, Rodgers visited the family in Lawrenceville, Georgia, asking Horn what he ultimately wanted. The answer, then and now, was to play both football and baseball until he couldn’t anymore. The Dodgers, like every MLB team, soon knew there was no way he would sign before college. Missouri offered a chance to be Peter Pan.
But to this point, injuries have made it hard to stay on either field. He missed all of 2024, in baseball and football, after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his elbow. As a quarterback, he has appeared in four games and attempted just eight passes. As a pitcher, he has thrown 15 innings, including three scoreless while on a strict pitch limit against Alabama in May. That was his last time on a college mound.
“When we got a brief glimpse his first couple outings as a freshman [at Missouri], we thought he was tracking toward a high-round pick. Then the Tommy John and the football schedule all kind of derailed it and made it a hard evaluation, really,” Gasparino said. “So on our end, it was, ‘All right, how much do we like him? How good is he at football? Is he an NFL-caliber quarterback?’ … And then when can we actually get him if we did take him? The baseball window closes quickly. It’s a quick timeline, and we want him on the mound and pitching.”
Assessing football ability was a new part of the Dodgers’ scouting process.
“We don’t really cross over ever,” Gasparino said. “So it was kind of like, ‘Wait a minute. Does anyone know a football scout? Does anyone know a college recruiter that can tell us how good he is?’ We were able to find a few sources who helped us.”
By the end of this month, Horn the college football player will be a bit less of a mystery. Even if it’s against Central Arkansas, a far inferior opponent, he could surpass his career snap count in one game. From there, Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz would conceivably choose between Horn and Pribula before the Tigers face rival Kansas on Sept. 6.
If Horn gets the nod, Gasparino will lock into the action, hoping Horn doesn’t get blindsided by some lineman. And Rodgers will remember what he told Horn all those years ago, sitting in the family’s living room, charting a future that’s still full of possibilities.
“If or when you decide to play one sport, we want it to be for organic reasons,” Rodgers recalled saying then. “Either you choose one sport or you’re forced to choose or something happens that you’re ready to pick between the two.”
That just hasn’t happened yet.
Jesse Dougherty
6–8 minutes
COLUMBIA, Mo. — The Los Angeles Dodgers’ front office will closely watch the University of Missouri football team in the coming months.
Um. Why, exactly?
Sam Horn, one of two quarterbacks competing to be Missouri’s full-time starter, signed with the Dodgers last month, a few weeks after they selected him as a pitcher in the 17th round of the MLB draft. This is, at its core, a story of ridiculous athleticism, of an unbending, almost stubborn resolve to play both football and baseball at the highest levels. But it’s also a mirror for the big business of modern college sports.
By signing with the Dodgers, Horn forfeited the rest of his eligibility in college baseball. Before the MLB draft, though, his agent, Mark Rodgers, made it crystal clear that he would still play football for Missouri in the fall. Rodgers is an important character here. Well before meeting Horn, he represented Russell Wilson, Jeff Samardzija and many other athletes who tried to stick with both football and baseball as long as possible. For backyard athletes with zany dreams, he’s the guy to call.
“I call it the Peter Pan effect,” Rodgers said. “They want to be boys forever.”
So that’s what Horn is doing, just like he has always done. Because it’s August, he is on a football field, where both he and transfer Beau Pribula — the other side of the quarterback battle — will take snaps in Missouri’s opener against Central Arkansas on Thursday. And when spring comes around, Horn will decide whether he wants to begin his professional baseball career, at which point the Dodgers would welcome him to minor league camp.
And as for how the situation relates to big business: For amateur baseball prospects, a draft bonus is a golden chance to cash in before starting a long climb through the minors. Typically, those bonuses decrease with each passing pick, meaning a third- or fourth-round selection would usually make a lot more than a pitcher taken in the 17th. But because Horn is playing college football in 2025, he is also able to earn money at Missouri, where the Tigers will pay him in the low seven figures for the coming season, according to multiple people familiar with his latest deal.
That probably made maximizing his MLB draft bonus less of a consideration for him. Instead, Horn could sign with the Dodgers now, locking in a pro baseball opportunity when he is ready for it, and not worry about going higher — and making more — in a future draft when baseball teams wouldn’t have to worry about the risks of him playing more football. The Dodgers, on the other hand, were comfortable with Horn continuing in football because he was such a late selection. Their risk assessment worked on a sliding scale. MLB.com also reported that Horn signed with the Dodgers for just under $500,000, a value in line with the 144th pick, not the 525th (which he ultimately was). Again, this is a story about ridiculous athleticism and the leverage that comes with it. (Horn was not made available for an interview because of the ongoing quarterback competition.)
“There are not many chances you get this kind of talent late in the draft like we did and have the money for him,” said Billy Gasparino, the Dodgers’ vice president in charge of amateur scouting. “So I think it was the perfect storm how it all added up, and I think it’s like a really good deal for both parties. He gets to go scratch it up and play football one more time.
“Then we get an uber-talented pitcher come this spring if that doesn’t work out.”
That last bit from Gasparino is key. Depending on how the football season goes, Horn could try to keep going as a quarterback and further defer his baseball career. He received a portion of his bonus upon signing with the Dodgers, and then the team immediately put him on the restricted list. And while there’s a solid chance he does join the organization this spring, the uncertainty is one of the many reasons he was tricky for the Dodgers to scout.
They began their assessment of Horn in high school, quickly taking to him as a hard-throwing right-hander. Around that time, Rodgers visited the family in Lawrenceville, Georgia, asking Horn what he ultimately wanted. The answer, then and now, was to play both football and baseball until he couldn’t anymore. The Dodgers, like every MLB team, soon knew there was no way he would sign before college. Missouri offered a chance to be Peter Pan.
But to this point, injuries have made it hard to stay on either field. He missed all of 2024, in baseball and football, after undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his elbow. As a quarterback, he has appeared in four games and attempted just eight passes. As a pitcher, he has thrown 15 innings, including three scoreless while on a strict pitch limit against Alabama in May. That was his last time on a college mound.
“When we got a brief glimpse his first couple outings as a freshman [at Missouri], we thought he was tracking toward a high-round pick. Then the Tommy John and the football schedule all kind of derailed it and made it a hard evaluation, really,” Gasparino said. “So on our end, it was, ‘All right, how much do we like him? How good is he at football? Is he an NFL-caliber quarterback?’ … And then when can we actually get him if we did take him? The baseball window closes quickly. It’s a quick timeline, and we want him on the mound and pitching.”
Assessing football ability was a new part of the Dodgers’ scouting process.
“We don’t really cross over ever,” Gasparino said. “So it was kind of like, ‘Wait a minute. Does anyone know a football scout? Does anyone know a college recruiter that can tell us how good he is?’ We were able to find a few sources who helped us.”
By the end of this month, Horn the college football player will be a bit less of a mystery. Even if it’s against Central Arkansas, a far inferior opponent, he could surpass his career snap count in one game. From there, Missouri Coach Eli Drinkwitz would conceivably choose between Horn and Pribula before the Tigers face rival Kansas on Sept. 6.
If Horn gets the nod, Gasparino will lock into the action, hoping Horn doesn’t get blindsided by some lineman. And Rodgers will remember what he told Horn all those years ago, sitting in the family’s living room, charting a future that’s still full of possibilities.
“If or when you decide to play one sport, we want it to be for organic reasons,” Rodgers recalled saying then. “Either you choose one sport or you’re forced to choose or something happens that you’re ready to pick between the two.”
That just hasn’t happened yet.
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Read the story here. It's pretty good. - Willie705 MU - 8/25 12:16:53