This one might be a little tough to justify, but this is not exactly uncommon for players before World War II.

Byron “Whizzer” White was a hot commodity after being a consensus All-American at Colorado, and he was drafted 4^th Overall by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1938.  As a rookie, he would lead the NFL in Rushing, but the National Football League was not the only organization that sought his talents.  He would only play there for one year as he deferred his pro career to attend Oxford, but the Rhodes Scholar stayed only one year there as he returned to the United States after the outbreak of World War II.