UCF can now say they have a Major League Baseball player, and no, he did not play baseball for the Knights. Instead, he is going to be putting on pads and playing for the football team. Former MLB pitcher Mason Denaburg, who is just 25 years old, has officially committed to UCF to play football next season.
Denaburg, after injuries and rehab sessions piled up on his MLB career, announced he was officially retiring from baseball and returning to the football field, and plans to continue that career with the Knights.
No, this will not be a John Rhys Plumee situation as Denaburg is actually a punter, and a pretty good one. Back in high school, Denaburg was a First Team All-State punter for his football team in 2016, but baseball took over his life after that, and he missed his senior football season playing for Team USA's National Team.
Denaburg, unfortunately, had a rough professional baseball career after being selected in the first round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals. The young baseball pitcher faced injury after injury and ended up having five surgeries throughout his career, and his dream of playing in the majors was never fulfilled.
When he made the decision to retire from baseball, Denaburg said his brother was the one who jokingly put the idea in his head to try punting again, and once he got back out on the field and tried it, he saw he was still pretty good at it. Denaburg has actually been working with former UCF kicker Dylan Barnas, who also played under Scott Frost, who is working as a private trainer for specialists in Central Florida.
Now Denaburg will have some competition for the punting job with UCF, but to choose to retire from one sport and try a different one, even at the age of 25, and go back to college, is something that can certainly be respected.
The best of luck to Denaburg and welcome to Knight Nation!