By Shivam Amin
Usain Bolt made global headlines Sunday night with a breathtaking performance en route to gold in the 100 meters. However on Monday he shocked a gathering of media when he said that he would like a tryout with Manchester United of the English Premier League. At 6'5 with speed that is incomparable to anyone in the world it would be intriguing to see how Bolt would preform on the pitch. The thought of Bolt wearing a Man U kit got me to thinking about other athletes that could make the two sport transition a success.
THE STARS
LeBron James, Football
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| LeBron James tosses the pigskin at Cowboys Stadium |
I would have shown LeBron in the Browns uniform from the State Farm commercial, but I am from Cleveland and that only makes me sad. I'm no hater, so you can see the youtube video here. This is probably the biggest no brainer out of any current athlete in the game right now. LBJ is built like a cyborg and he never gets hurt (don't let a fake elbow injury his last season in Cleveland fool you), so basically he is indestructible. Line him up at WR/TE and he would instantly become the best in the game. He is 6'8 260 lbs with the speed of a point guard in the NBA which would translate to the fastest TE and above average WR speed. Any jump ball in the endzone would result in a touchdown if you put it remotely close. If the NBA season last year would have been scrapped it would have been interesting to see if he would have actually came over to the NFL. In high school at St Vincent St Mary he was first team All-State (sophomore year) at WR which is unheard of especially in a football hotbed like Ohio. If you were to give LeBron some time to learn the ins and outs of volleyball there is no doubt in my mind he would be unstoppable in that as well, I only say this because the Olympics make you think "what if" when you watch an event. (NOTE: I think it is pretty evident that a number of NBA players can make the jump to the NFL, but I doubt that anyone would dominate the league the way LeBron would)
Joe Mauer, Football
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| Hi I'm Joe Mauer |
Following a loss to Oklahoma in the 2000 BCS National Title Game, spirits were still high in Tallahassee. Daggumit! Bobby Bowden reached the National Title Game two years in a row (beating Virginia Tech in 99') and they were the class of the ACC. But there was a kid in St. Paul who Bowden was ready to hand the quarterback reigns over to and his name was Joe Mauer. Mauer was from the same high school (Cretin-Derham Hall, a private high school in St. Paul, Minnesota) as Chris Weinke (Heisman winner and 1999 National Champion for the Florida State Seminoles) and the pipeline from Minnesota was set. (Check out Mauer's high school resume. You can see why he was the talk of the town) After his senior year in baseball it was rumored that Mauer could go as high as the number one pick in the MLB amateur draft. With his hometown Twins having the number one pick how could he turn down being the savior of the city at the age of 18? What happened next is history: Mauer chose to play baseball, went number one overall, three batting titles, three gold gloves, 2009 AL MVP, and multiple endorsements (Head & Shouders, Pepsi, Playstation 3, and ESPN to name a few.) I remember the whole Mauer saga as it was going on as a kid. I would think to myself who the hell would pass up being the QB at FSU to play baseball? Then the lucrative two hundred million deals started to be made in the MLB and I saw things more clearly. It is often said that the position of quarterback is the hardest position to play in sports, something I wholeheartedly agree with. I also think that Mauer could have done it based on his upbringing and already stellar professional career in the majors. He was not just the top high school baseball player in the country, but also the top football player and an elite basketball player too (All-State First Team his junior and senior season) at 6'5", 220 pounds, Mauer had a cannon arm and great mobility in the pocket (some nice throws from a young Mauer) He has the prototypical body to play QB in the NFL, tall, strong armed, and mobile. It would have been amazing to think what the NFL would look like today if Mauer would have been as good of a quarterback as he is a catcher.
THE OMISSION
Calvin Johnson, Basketball
Listen, I get it, 6'5 240 lbs, 4.33 40 yd dash, 10.23 100 yd dash, 11 foot broad jump, 43 inch vertical, yadda yadda yadda. That doesn't mean he can ball out in the NBA. There are so many other factors that come into play regarding the transition to the NBA:
Can he dribble
Can he shoot
Can he pass
Can he defendIn regards to his size and speed: there are physical freaks who flunk out of NBA 101 right away (see Jonathon Bender.) The transition from basketball to football is an easier leap to make compared to the transition of football to basketball. But could you imagine a volleyball team of LBJ and Megatron???
LEFTOVERS:
Tony Romo, Golf
The only reason people give a shit that he tries out for the US Open every year is due to the fact he is the starting quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. End of story.
Carl Crawford, Football
Had a scholarship to play QB at Nebraska, would have loved to see him run the option.
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