NEW YORK Just call him Johnny Baseball.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 28th round of the Major League Baseball draft Saturday the 837th player taken.
Manziel was listed as a shortstop for Texas AM although he never played for the Aggies as he focused on football.
Manziel who became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy in 2012 was taken by the Browns with the 22nd overall pick in the NFL draft last month.
The quarterback took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to express his excitement
Big thank you to the Padres and padresmikedee for selecting me in the MLB draft. What a great day pic.twitter.com/MaTKVZ5JqY
Johnny Manziel ( JManziel2) June 7 2014Mike Dee the Padres' president and CEO tweeted back
Best athlete on the board... JohnnyBaseball pic.twitter.com/yqOYmgLPr2
Mike Dee ( PadresMikeDee) June 7 2014It was kind of 'Why not ' Padres general manager Josh Byrnes said Saturday before the Padres hosted the Washington Nationals.
In May 2013 Manziel visited the Padres when he was in San Diego to work with a quarterbacks coach.
He certainly loves baseball Byrnes said. We kind of talked about it at that time 'Do you want us to draft you ' He said 'Yeah absolutely.'
Why in the 28th round
We really liked our 27th rounder Byrnes said.
Asked the odds of signing Manziel Byrnes a big football fan just smiled.
It is unlikely Manziel will ever play as no 837th pick in the June draft has ever played in an MLB game according to ESPN Stats Information.
Manziel played baseball and football at Tivy High School in Kerrville Texas and asked Texas AM coaches about being part of the baseball team before winning the Aggies' starting quarterback job as a redshirt freshman.
Earlier this week Manziel decked out in an Indians jersey was set to throw out the first pitch in Cleveland before the Indians played Boston. His toss was washed out by rain that delayed the start.
Two Sport StarJohnny Manziel joins a long list of notable active NFL quarterbacks selected in the MLB draft.
In May 2013 Manziel took batting practice with the Padres at Petco Park and tossed out a football style first pitch as he dropped back scrambled to the side of the mound and floated a bootleg pass to San Diego outfielder Mark Kotsay who caught it behind his back with his glove.
On Manziel's first swing in batting practice the bat flew out of his hands but he settled down and later drove a pitch off the right field wall.
I didn't know he played baseball Padres right hander Ian Kennedy said Saturday. Anybody in Texas probably plays all those sports football baseball.
Padres closer Huston Street who pitched at Texas and whose late father James played quarterback for the Longhorns liked the pick even if Manziel did play for the Aggies.
I'm a fan. I think he's an exciting player Street said. I think he's good for sport. I think he plays hard. I don't know if he'll ever wear a Padre uniform but it sure is exciting that the organization took him. I know he hung out here last year a couple times and everybody really enjoyed his presence. Everybody liked him. I came away from that day thinking 'Man that's a good dude that's a cool guy.' It seemed like he was a very focused mentally strong guy. He wanted to do something. We know what he can do in football.
Heck if he wants to come out here and hang around before games ... I don't know if they let 28th round picks do that Street said. But he's a great athlete. I don't think anybody expects to see him in the big leagues but maybe he's going to try and do both. I don't know. If he does he's one of the more competitive people I've been around. We'll see what happens with his football career. He's potentially got a baseball one.
Street isn't sure whether Johnny Football would try both sports.
I would tell him to don't try to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. But at the same time it's been done before. I don't know about at the quarterback position. A little bit tougher position he said.
Another notable draft pick Saturday occurred in the 29th round when the New York Yankees selected the son of former closer Mariano Rivera. With the 872nd pick the Yankees chose Mariano Rivera III a right handed pitcher out of Iona College.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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