MLB teams
Rick Weber 9y

Magee enjoying tryout with Red Sox

MLB, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- When Brandon Magee was growing up as a two-sport star in Corona, California, people told him he could be the next Bo Jackson. 

Now the 24-year-old Magee, after being released by the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is in the Boston Red Sox's minor league camp and is taking a shot at baseball -- keeping in mind everything Bo knows and has told him.

"Some of them I can tell you, some of them I won't," Magee said after a Sunday morning workout. "He's a great guy. He's been here before. He gives me encouragement all the times I talked to him. He just told me to stay humble and try to keep working hard and outwork everybody out here. That's his main key."

When people told him in his youth that he could be the next Bo Jackson, Magee didn't even know who they were referring to, having been born just a few months before the 1985 Heisman Trophy winner's football career ended in 1991 and three years before Jackson retired from baseball in 1994. But Magee embraced the comparison, and Jackson even became a trusted mentor after Magee finished playing both football and baseball at Arizona State.

Magee spent time as a linebacker and special teams player with the Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns and Buccaneers during his NFL career.

Last spring, after signing with the Buccaneers, Magee spent extended spring training with the Red Sox. Magee was recovering from a torn pectoral muscle suffered while playing on special teams for the Browns. In his six weeks in Fort Myers, he spent most of the time rehabbing, never entering any games, and not even taking batting practice until near the end.

One of the things Jackson told him a year ago was that he needed to be more flexible to play baseball. So the 5-foot-11, 230-pound Magee has been focusing on that in his workouts with the other Red Sox minor leaguers on the back fields of the Fenway South complex.

"Every day, I'm learning something new," he said. "I'm getting adjusted to it. It's a lot different than playing football. You've got a lot [of] flexibility things I'm working on -- getting my arm ready, getting my swing right. I'm enjoying every minute.

"It's been 90 feet every day so far. I think starting tomorrow we're going to ramp it up even more -- taking four rounds of BP tomorrow. So I'm excited about that."

He said he's been a "little rusty" in the batting cage so far and is just looking for incremental improvement every day. He hasn't played in a game since his junior year at Arizona State almost four years ago, and isn't even sure he will play outfield, as he did then.

"As of right now, I don't even know what I'm going to do next week," he said. "I'm just taking it day by day and see where it goes. "

Magee hit .103 in 27 games over three seasons at Arizona State and was drafted by three MLB teams: the Tampa Bay Rays (2008, 29th round), Oakland Athletics (2011, 21st round) and Red Sox (2012, 23rd round). He didn't sign with either the Rays or A's, but took a $7,500 signing bonus from the Red Sox.

Magee gave what he called a "simple answer" to the question of whether he is keeping his options open to returning to the NFL or will immerse himself fully in baseball.

"I'm just focusing on spring training," he said. "And I take it one at a time. When I'm playing football, it's to help the team win. When I'm playing baseball, I'm focusing on getting better, helping the team win. Now I'm just focusing on getting better every day.

"[Balancing the two sports has] been a little easier with the years. I've been doing this since high school. When I'm playing in the NFL, the guys are a lot better. When I come here, these guys are a lot better and they play all year round. [There's] a lot of pressure on me to get up to speed really fast, especially being here and these guys have been rolling. I'm just trying to compete every day."

However, Blake Baratz, Magee's agent, told profootballtalk.com that Magee remains committed to the NFL and will sign with another team as soon as possible.

"There have been rumors circulating that Brandon Magee, who was recently released by Tampa Bay, has given up football with the intention of playing professional baseball. This could not be further from the truth," Baratz wrote in an email to PFT. "While he does attend spring training for a few weeks up until the beginning of the NFL off-season program, he is 100% fully committed to playing in the NFL."

Magee said he is "very curious" about how skilled he could become in baseball if he devoted all of his time to it.

"That's why I'm out here -- try to make the best of my opportunity," he said. "Anything I can put my mind to, I can be successful.

"I'm not scared of anything. I'm ready to go right now. Well, I'll get better the next day. I'm going to keep grinding at it. I'm going to succeed."

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