STARKVILLE — A.J. Brown is on the cusp of starting his senior year in football.
But the multi-sport standout had business to take care on the diamond before he and his football teammates hit the field Friday night.
The Starkville High School wide receiver and center fielder played in the Under Armour All-America baseball game Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago. He also will play in the Under Armour All-America football game in January, becoming just the second player to play in both games. Kyler Murray, who plays college football and baseball for Texas A&M, was the other. Murray plays quarterback in football and shortstop and second base in baseball.
“It’s a huge honor playing in both,” Brown said. “The second person to do that, that’s a huge honor.”
Starkville High football coach Ricky Woods, who is in his first season at the school, is proud of what Brown for being invited to both games.
“I think that’s pretty impressive,” Woods said.
Brown and the Starkville High football team will kick off the 2015 season at 7 p.m. Friday at Noxubee County High.
Brown missed his team’s game against Grenada on Saturday in the New Hope High Jamboree at Mississippi State’s Davis Wade Stadium, but Woods didn’t mind.
“I think that’s great,” Woods said. “I encourage these guys to play more than one sport. My son played three sports and I was real happy about it. If you can play something, you’re in high school, why shouldn’t you?”
Brown went 1-for-3 with an infield single as the American team lost to the National team 11-5. He played center field and left field.
Brown said he used the game as a barometer to see where he stands in the sport.
“(I used it to) tell me what I need to do more and just keep working,” Brown said. “I’m trying to be the best, but I’ve still got to keep working. You can’t get comfortable.”
The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder, who is a four-star prospect in football, is considered one of the state’s top players in the Class of 2016, but Brown has said numerous times he wants to play both sports in college.
Some of his teammates and competitors Saturday were making the pitch for playing baseball at the next level.
“They were trying to persuade me because I can play this sport,” Brown said. “They were like come join them.”
Brown has scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Alabama, and other schools. As a junior on the football team, Brown had 60 catches for 1,125 yards and a team-high 17 touchdowns. In baseball, he hit .344 with seven doubles, a team-high two triples, two home runs, and 16 RBIs.
Brown returned to Starkville on Sunday and hit the football practice field Monday to get back into his regular routine, but the awe of playing at Wrigley Field hasn’t worn off.
“It was a great experience,” Brown said. “I got home (Sunday) and turned on SportsCenter and I saw Wrigley Field. And I was like, ‘I was there less than 24 hours ago.’
“They treated us like we were in the league, like I was a professional baseball player. That’s a great feeling. It just motivated me.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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