With apologies to Jim Thorpe and Mickey Mantle, this list begins well after their respective heydays simply because, well, both football and baseball—particularly the former—have changed a whole bunch since then.

So, while it’s impressive that Mantle was good enough to play halfback for Bud Wilkinson at Oklahoma, it wasn’t even really the same sport that Rodney Anderson was playing last year. And, for that reason, we’re kicking this thing off with a pair of Auburn Tigers that Mick definitely wouldn’t have wanted to see on the gridiron.

Bo Jackson

Bo knew pretty much everything. Bo hit bombs. Bo hit the truck stick. He was, quite possibly, the greatest two-sport athlete we’ve ever seen.

The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner rushed for 4,303 yards and slashed .338/.466/.729 at Auburn before being selected with the first overall pick of the 1986 NFL Draft and chosen in the fourth round of the 1986 MLB amateur draft.

Jackson was both an NFL Pro Bowler and a Major League All-Star before a gruesome hip injury robbed us of what would have been a legendary career. At least we’ll always have “Tecmo Bo.”

Frank Thomas

“The Big Hurt” remains a household name for the hurt he put on baseballs during his 19-year Major League career, beginning in 1990. But it was his aptitude for crushing baseballs that, ultimately, spared defensive backs from a similar fate.

Thomas actually went to Auburn to play tight end on the football team, before moving over to Hal Baird’s baseball team full-time.

The five-time Major League All-Star and two-time American League MVP managed just three receptions in one season with the Tigers, as he was a little busy on his journey to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joe Mauer

Before he was a No. 1 draft pick and the face of the Minnesota Twins, Joe Mauer was an All-American quarterback who threw for more than 5,500 yards and 73 touchdowns in two seasons as his high school’s starting quarterback.

Mauer was widely considered to be the top quarterback prospect in the class of 2001 and the legendary Bobby Bowden agreed, offering the future Minnesota Twins first baseman the opportunity to run the offense at Florida State.

Brian Jordan

One of the greatest Richmond Spiders of all time, Jordan was a first-round selection of the St. Louis Cardinals and the seventh round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1988 and ’89, respectively.

The Baltimore native made his Major League debut in April 1992 and would go on to play 15 seasons in the Major Leagues as a middle-of-the-order batter and an excellent defensive corner outfielder. He was also a standout defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons from 1989-91.

Jeff Samardzija

“The Shark” was, for a time, best known for his exploits on the football field, where he starred as Brady Quinn’s go-to guy as a wide receiver at Notre Dame, amassing a school-record 2,593 receiving yards and back-to-back All-America selections.

He would’ve almost assuredly been an impact player in the NFL were it not for the fact that he was an elite pitcher, as well, which earned him a spot with the Chicago Cubs via the 2006 MLB Draft. To date, Samardzija has won 68 games and fanned 1,273 hitters during his big league career.

Deion Sanders

If Bo Jackson isn’t the greatest athlete of our generation, it’s “Prime Time.”

Best known for a Hall of Fame football career that really needs no introduction, the two-time Super Bowl winner also played 12 years in the big leagues, highlighted by a monster 1992 season with the Atlanta Braves, during which Sanders—who was also playing for the Atlanta Falcons at the time—hit .304 during the regular season and .533 during the World Series.

Deion’s the only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and the World Series and is, without question, the most decorated and accomplished football-baseball athlete of all time.

Ryne Sandberg

“Ryno” is one of the all-time greats to wear a Chicago Cubs uniform, but long before he was manning second base at Wrigley Field, the nine-time Gold Glove Award winner signed a letter of intent to play quarterback at Washington State.

He never made it to Pullman.

After being selected in the 20th round of the 1978 amateur draft by the Phillies, Sandberg opted for a baseball career—and that decision worked out pretty well. Now a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Sandberg was a 10-time All-Star and the 1984 NL MVP and his No. 23 has since been retired by the Cubs.

Russell Wilson

Russell Wilson’s baseball career is the best thing that ever happened to Bret Bielema’s football coaching career.

In addition to quarterbacking the NC State football team, Wilson was also the second baseman of the Wolfpack baseball team. And, in June 2010, the Colorado Rockies selected him in the fourth round of the MLB Draft. When Wilson announced that he would be reporting to spring training with the Rockies, then-NC State head coach Tom O’Brien effectively benched his starting quarterback in favor of Mike Glennon.

So, Wilson left—for Wisconsin.

With the Badgers, the 5-foot-11 quarterback exploded, throwing 33 touchdowns against just four picks in 2011 and leading ‘Sconny to a Rose Bowl berth.

His pro baseball career never took off, but his football career obviously has in Seattle. During the winter, Wilson’s MLB rights were traded from the Rangers to the Yankees, for whom he appeared in spring training games in March.

Antwaan Randle El

You know Antwaan Randle El as the Indiana quarterback-turned-NFL wide receiver, but long before he was electrifying fans on college and pro gridirons, Randle El was the 14th-round selection of the Chicago Cubs in the 1997 MLB Draft.

Needless to say, he passed on baseball, in favor of becoming arguably (but not even really arguably) the greatest football player in Indiana’s not-so-illustrious history. He was a first-team All-America selection in 2001 and went on to win Super Bowl XL with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Michael Vick

Did you know Michael Vick played baseball? Neither did he.

The southpaw quarterback hung up his spikes after the eighth grade in favor of what was nothing short of a remarkable football career, both at Virginia Tech and in the NFL. But, a few months before he was the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft, Vick was the 30th-round selection of the Colorado Rockies.

A bit of an off-the-wall selection, sure. But with 4.33 40-yard dash speed and a massive left arm, it stands to reason that the potential was there.

Tim Tebow

You had to know this was coming.

Tim Tebow, Florida’s football messiah, won two national titles and a Heisman Trophy and was a three-time All-American in Gainesville, FL, before the Denver Broncos selected him with the 25th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately for Tebow, quarterbacks in the NFL need to be able to sling it, which was always a shortcoming for No. 15.

But, four years after Tebow’s pro football career ended, he announced that he would be giving baseball a shot—for the first time since high school.

A lot of people said a lot of mean things and made a lot of mean memes, but, here we are, two years later, and Tebow is breaking camp with the New York Mets Double-A affiliate, the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

So, yeah. Joke’s on us.