From Phillies to Football: ‘Bash Brother’ Dylan Cozens Retires to Pursue NFL

A former Phillies minor-league standout is leaving baseball for an NFL career.

Just five years ago, the Philadelphia Phillies had two sluggers at their Double-A Reading affiliate who were turning heads seemingly every night — Rhys Hoskins and Dylan Cozens. Dubbed the “Bash Brothers,” the duo combined to hit 78 home runs and were the two leading home-run hitters across Minor League Baseball in 2016.

Hoskins went on to debut a year later and hit 18 home runs in 50 games as a rookie. Cozens, meanwhile, earned his ticket to The Show in 2018, but only launched one home run in 26 games as a rookie. His MLB career never materialized, playing only one more game the following season. The Phillies would eventually release Cozens on August 1, 2019.

From Phillies to Football

Almost two years later, he has decided to call an end to his professional baseball career so he can instead pursue his dream to play in the National Football League.

“I’ve decided it’s time to chase my dream of playing in the NFL,” Cozens tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “I want to thank the Phillies, Rays, and Brewers organizations for giving me the opportunity to play professional baseball, but more importantly the people, experiences, and memories I’ll keep forever.”

Just a week after the Phillies released their 2012 second-round draft pick, he signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays and finished the year collecting a double and home run across nine plate appearances at Triple-A Durham.

Cozens was granted free agency this past November before he eventually signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. This season, the 27-year-old slashed only .177/.343/.329 with seven extra-base hits, seven RBI, 19 walks, and 43 strikeouts across 31 games and 100 plate appearances at Triple-A Nashville.

We have seen players from the NFL pursue a career in MLB, the most recent example being Tim Tebow with the Mets. However, it is rare to see an athlete go from baseball to football. In July 2018, Phillies outfield prospect Cord Sandberg announced his retirement, after five-plus seasons in the minors, so he could “chase” another dream — playing collegiate football as a quarterback. Kyler Murray became the first athlete to ever be drafted first overall in both the MLB and NFL Drafts, but opted for football and is now the Arizona Cardinals quarterback.

Best wishes to Cozens. Who knows, maybe he will be the next Philadelphia Eagles tight end as the eventual replacement to Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.