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This is not to say that these athletes could transfer directly over to the pitch and dominate. It's not even to say that these athletes would have been good footballers if they had grown up playing the sport their entire lives. However, there are athletes whose agility, body type, speed, balance, body control, quickness, lateral movement, creativity and awareness/heady play in their particular sport make you wonder what type of footballers they would have been. While there are certainly some guys who were "born to play" a specific sport (e.g., Andre Agassi), there are also a lot of guys who are good at basically everything they do. Some of our best professional athletes (Allen Iverson, Deion Sanders, Randy Moss, Bo Jackson, Tony Gonzales, etc.) excelled at multiple sports.
Derrick Rose goes at the top of my list (6'3). This guy is a jet who can change directions at the drop of a penny. When a 26-year old Lebron James doesn't even bother pursuing you in the open court, YOU ARE FAST.
Ty Lawson also gets the nod from me (5'10). Basketball players in general seem better suited for the pitch to me since both sports have a similar type of flow/continuity and require split-second decision making and heady play. Lawson is excellent at making good decisions while moving down the court at warp speed.
Allen Iverson (5'11-6'0). Absolutely fearless. At 155 pounds, he never thought twice about crashing into guys twice his size. He was blindingly fast. He made the Energizer Bunny look lethargic. His speed and tenacity alone would bother the most gifted ball handlers. Iverson changed directions faster than anyone. He was a radioactive pinball. There was no prediciting where he'd go.
Rajon Rondo (6'1). Rondo is a very clever fox. He learns and figures things out very quickly. And he sees everything. He understands both space and pace. He knows where the ball needs to be at all times. And he's got a shark's instinct for sniffing out weaknesses in any defensive scheme. If you stop paying attention for only a moment, Rondo makes you pay the price.
Lol football players need to be playing football since their childhood to get to a decent level.
And basketball players need to play basketball since childhood to get to a decent level. And tennis players (even more technical lessons and training). And gymnasts. And figure skaters. And on and on and on.
I didn't say that Derrick Rose would be able to step onto the pitch today and win a Ballon d'Or. I said that certain athletes have qualities that are prized in soccer, which makes you wonder what type of soccer players they would have been. While it's clear that Shaquille O'Neal would not make a good soccer player, I could see more nimble swing and point guards being good players.
Its still impossible to tell. I think a lot of people have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to run with a ball at your feet and not be a kick and chase player. Any fast player can kick a ball and chase it, it takes a special set of skills to run with a ball at your feet.
Its akin to saying Neil Ruddock is a big man, hed make a badass quarter back.
I believe Ocho Cinco was one of those athletes many thought could play multiple sports. Even a Sporting Whiz of Kansas fan on here was excited he had trials with them with a view to play and he failed miserably. Of course every excuse under the sun from some of their fans was made but it all boiled down to he was crap.
Hmm. I didn't even think of Mike Vick. Soccer may have been better for him in the long run. How many broken ribs and concussions has he had?
Another football player who comes to mind is Adrian Peterson. Could you imagine how powerful he would be? Not even 225 pound strong safeties can pull him down by his legs. And his shiftiness and acceleration are otherworldly.
Its still impossible to tell. I think a lot of people have absolutely no idea how difficult it is to run with a ball at your feet and not be a kick and chase player. Any fast player can kick a ball and chase it, it takes a special set of skills to run with a ball at your feet.
Its akin to saying Neil Ruddock is a big man, hed make a badass quarter back.
I refuse to believe that you all are this rigid in your thinking as to find these sorts of hypothetical questions totally without merit; rather I'll chalk this up to another case of "LOL fat yanks think their "athletes" could lay football lol handegg".
Not really rigid, I just think its a bit silly. If you say right now, take X player and put him in Y sport its not gonna happen. Least not into soccer or into NFL thats for sure. If you say as a kid if they trained differently its hard to say, different attributes etc. Chalk it up to whatever you want.
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