Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson will shun...

Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson will shun professional football and sign with baseball’s Kansas City Royals, it was reported Friday night. Jackson, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said he would announce his decision today.

A Memphis, Tenn., radio station, WLVS, said that Royal co-owner Ewing Kaufman emerged from a meeting in Memphis and told a switchboard operator not to return any calls to the media because “we’ve signed Bo and will announce it (Saturday).”

The station said Jackson was signed Friday afternoon, and champagne corks were popped in co-owner Avron Fogelman’s office in Memphis.

The Advertiser in Montgomery, Ala., said that Jackson plans to sign a multimillion dollar contract with the Royals, making him the first Heisman Trophy winner since 1958 to turn his back on pro football.

Jackson called a news conference for 1 p.m. EDT, in Birmingham, Ala. If he announces a decision to play baseball, he will be turning down the Buccaneers’ reported offer of a five-year, $7-million contract in favor of a five-year, $5-million baseball contract from the Royals.