Former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Dylan Cozens is hanging up his baseball cleats for a different sport. Cozens announced on Twitter that he will be retiring from baseball in order to chase his dream of playing professional football.
Cozens was playing for the Milwaukee Brewers' Triple-A team in Nashville prior to deciding to give up his roster spot. He was hitting .177 with two home runs and seven RBIs for Nashville.
I’ve decided it’s time to chase my dream of playing in the @NFL. I want to thank the @phillies @RaysBaseball and @Brewers organizations for giving me the opportunity to play professional baseball but more importantly the people, experiences, and memories I’ll keep forever.
— Dylan Cozens (@dylancozens) June 22, 2021
The outfielder was in the Phillies organization for eight years and was one of the team's top prospects at one time. Cozens even slugged 40 home runs and knocked in 125 runs during the 2016 season as a member of the Reading Phillies at the Double-A level.
Cozens, who is 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, does have some football experience as he was a two-sport star at Chaparral High School in Arizona. He even had a scholarship offer to play football at the University of Arizona but turned it down when the Phillies selected him in the second round of the 2012 MLB Draft.
Cozens was called up to the Phillies in 2018 and hit .154 with one home run and two RBIs in 38 at-bats. He played one game for the Phillies in 2019 and went 0 for 1. He also played in the Tampa Bay Rays minor-league system in 2019 before he joined the Brewers organization.
