DeSean Jackson Says He Turned Down Being a First-Round Baseball Pick to Play Football

DeSean Jackson says he was going to be a first-round pick in the Major League Baseball draft before he turned it down to play football.

Jackson told the story on The Joint Venture Show with Lil Wayne and Craig Carton. He said he was in class during his senior year of high school when the call came from a Tampa Bay number.

"This the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. We got the 29 pick in the first round. Would you be willing to give up football if we draft you with this pick?"

Jackson said his dad and his brother had spent the whole month getting him ready for that moment. The plan was simple: if a team called, say yes.

He didn't.

"I'm like, 'Ah, I can't do it.'"

Jackson said his dad was not happy about it and told him he had just given up three to four million dollars. He said his dad's idea was that he could have taken the money and still gone on to play football.

Jackson also said the Philadelphia Phillies were interested in him.

"I was a baller, man. I was like little Bo Jack, man."

He joked that the choice may have cost him a fortune.

"If I have played baseball, I'd have probably made about 800 million already, bro."

Jackson added that he used to steal home from third base, and said he would tell the batter not to swing so he could time it. He said the baseball story was left out of his new documentary, Go Deep.

Watch the full episode of The Joint Venture Show to hear the whole story, plus Jackson on the Giants punt return and his years in Philadelphia.