All right look, nobody will ever be Bo Jackson 2.0. I don't care if you can throw a baseball 101 mph and then go catch passes like Iowa's Brody Brecht or if your name is Kyler Murray.
BUT if there were ever a two-sport player we'd love to see come close to doing what the great Bo Jackson did on the field, it would be Ole Miss Rebels designated hitter Tywone Malone. Why? Because he's a 315-pound defensive tackle in the fall and a monster in the batter's box come spring time.
The not-so-secret weapon is quickly becoming a fan-favorite in Oxford, because everyone is anxiously awaiting his next long ball.
The sophomore came to Ole Miss from Jamesburg, New Jersey, where he was a four-star defensive tackle recruit on the gridiron and the No. 25 first baseman in the nation on the diamond.
The big man is primarily used off the bench, and his power is simply too much to ignore. He recorded four hits in nine at-bats last season, two of which were lasers that sailed over the fence. And in eight at-bats this season, he's already got another homer.
Here's his first career home run last season:
310-pound freshman Tywone Malone is an Ole Miss defensive tackle that also hits bombs in the spring pic.twitter.com/4FTjjC7dua
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 28, 2022
And here's his first dinger of the 2023 season. That's to straightaway centerfield...
We all knew this was coming ? @TywoneMalone | @OleMissFB pic.twitter.com/uZnmZj0AfJ
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 21, 2023
We mic'd up @TywoneMalone, so of course he hit one off the batter's eye. ? pic.twitter.com/zPYf05linH
— Ole Miss Baseball (@OleMissBSB) February 22, 2023
And during one team scrimmage before the 2023 season, Malone cranked three home runs:
Over the weekend @OleMissBSB had a scrimmage in which @TywoneMalone hit 3 bombs and a single off the wall I?m thrilled to watch him this year pic.twitter.com/CxCecA4CZS
— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) January 30, 2023
I don't care that he's probably the heaviest player in the SEC. Tywone Malone is one of the most impressive athletes in the conference and probably all of college baseball right now. The 6-foot-4 beast also played in 13 football games for the Rebels last season, recording a sack and 10 tackles.
Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin recognizes the rarity that is Malone, too.
"It's really cool for someone to be a two-sport player," Kiffin told The Rebel Walk. "But you usually don't have a big one, you know with his size as a defensive lineman, so there's good and bad to everything, the bad part is you have to work yourself back in because you missed some time (during baseball) so he's doing a great job."
Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images
Malone already has one national championship ring in baseball after Ole Miss won the 2022 College World Series. Adding a College Football Playoff National Championship would be something Bo Jackson could only dream of.
Either way, it's a bad time to be a pitcher in the SEC, especially if you're facing Tywone Malone.
