LeBron James: A Potential Two-sport Star?

With today being a slow day around the NFL world, I think it's time to re-open this debate: could LeBron James make it in the NFL?

I was reading an article on Yahoo! that discussed how former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann believes that the Miami Heat forward could make it as an NFL quarterback. Interesting statement, to say the least. While the 28-year old NBA star played quarterback in high school prior to switching over to wide receiver, I'd like to believe that his combination of size and athleticism would be better suited as a tight end.

Picture this: you have a 6'8" and 250 pound man with 4.6 speed lining up in front of you on the offensive line. As a defender, that's a match-up made in hell. There aren't any tight ends in this league that are that tall, and though a 4.6 40-time isn't incredibly fast, it's a pretty solid time for a TE of his size.

We already know that LeBron James has the work ethic needed to be a professional athlete, he's been doing it for a decade now. And though his football experience is limited to a few years of high school before he quit to focus more on basketball, he's still got something under his belt. So I think the only question is, does he want to do it?

We can debate this as much as we want, but that doesn't mean a damn thing until LeBron actually expresses interest in cutting his basketball career short to focus on his second sport: football. The last successful two-sport star, Bo Jackson (football and baseball), was a freak of nature. At 6'1" and 230 pounds, Jackson could bowl through a freight train and didn't seem to fear anything at all. He was one of the most gifted athletes we have ever been able to witness.

That being said, James is a freak of nature as well. The "Best Player in the NBA" debate is on-going, but there's no question that James wins the "Most Athletic Player in the NBA" debate by a land-slide. With the NBA and NFL seasons overlapping so much, it doesn't look plausible for him to do both, meaning James would have to give up basketball earlier than expected in order to make this into a reality.

With one NBA championship in his possession already, and the possibility of a second one this year with the way the Heat are playing right now, he could end up winning enough championships to satisfy his hunger for NBA titles and call it quits early. Doesn't seem possible, but Michael Jordan even took up a second sport during his NBA career, so a LeBron journey into the NFL may not be as far-fetched as it sounds.

If LeBron does get bored, there's no doubt that NFL scouts and front offices would love to give him a tryout. He's already got better hands than a lot of tight ends in the league now, and having an athletic 6'8"/250 pound TE lining up against linebackers is as big a mismatch that you'll see on an NFL field. He's got three-plus inches on most any outside linebackers in the game today. If he enters the league as a tight end, he'll be giving defensive coordinators grey hair from day one.

One more encouraging detail to take note of: current tight ends Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham are former basketball players. Gonzalez and Gates have both publicly stated that playing basketball has helped them with catching passes in the NFL, and even compared posting-up in the paint to catching jump balls over top of defenders. And guess what? Gonzalez is Canton-bound once his prolific career is in the history books.

Unfortunately for us, we can talk about this as much as we like, but there's nothing we can do about it unless LeBron truly wants to leave the NBA early and go after his NFL dream. But, at his age, he could put in another 6-8 years in the basketball world and still take a stab at the NFL. So we may have to re-open this discussion once again in about five years and see where his career is at then.

It's not a question of "can he succeed" it's more of a "does he want to succeed" in the NFL? With one high school season as quarterbacks and two as a wide receiver, I think it's clear that James' potential career in the NFL would be better-suited catching passes, rather than throwing them. Not to mention having a 6'8" quarterback seems like a waste of size.

Debate over: LeBron can make it as an NFL player because of his freakish size and athleticism. But whether he will or not is completely up in the air, and will be until he is completely satisfied with his NBA career. We can keep dreaming though, right?

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Does anybody remember this commercial from LeBron's Cleveland Cavalier-playing days?

We sure do.

Note: We do not own the above images and video. No copyright infringement intended.

Best to Ever Play the Position: Tony Gonzalez Deserves More Respect

In the wake of Super Bowl week, all the talk has been centered around New England's tight end Rob Gronkowski. Will he play, or will he sit? After spraining his ankle after an awkward tackle against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship, Gronk has been seen in a walking boot earlier this week.

When seen at yesterday's Media Day, the second-year pro had taken off the walking boot. But after missing practice again today (only two practice days remain before Super Sunday) the question still lingers.

Personally I don't see him missing the game. No way he will allow himself to miss what will be the biggest game/day of his life...especially considering what he means to this New England offense.

Gronk, 22, has blossomed in to perhaps the league's most well-known tight end within about a season. He broke on to the football scene with 546 yards and 10 TDs as a rookie in 2010, but he followed that up with a record-setting performance in 16 games this season: 90 receptions, 1,327 yards and 17 TDs. The single greatest season ever put together by a tight end. He led the league in receiving TDs and set TE records for most yards and most TDs.

The sudden stardom of the bruising 6'6'' and 265 pound end has led to the expression "Gronk'd." His powerful spike, in celebration of a TD, has been known as a Gronkowski trademark by many, and he even has t-shirts and songs in dedication to his athletic ability and on-field success–mainly in the New England area.

This has made for a sad, sad day in Kansas City and Atlanta. The two cities that the 12-time Pro Bowl tight end Tony Gonzalez has played in. Still a Falcon, the 35 going-on-36-year old veteran has lost his touch. He has put up 15 hard-working and well-fought seasons, starting 222 career games and missing just one start since 1998 (he didn't start any games in his rookie season, 1997).

Gonzalez has already punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and he doesn't even think he's going to retire for another couple of seasons. Yet new faces such as Gronk, New Orleans' second-year pro Jimmy Graham, New England's Aaron Hernandez and San Francisco's Vernon Davis have stolen the spotlight away from the blue collar Gonzo.

The worst part, in my opinion, is that I don't think it even really bothers Gonzalez at all. Young kids have seemed to have chosen Gronk as their hero, rather than Gonzalez. I'm not trying to take anything away from Gronk and Graham, or anyone else, because they have played hard and deserve some credit as well. But I'm disappointed that fans have seemingly overlooked perhaps one of the league's greatest receiving tight end of all time.

The NFL has recently put together an official magazine (NFL the Magazine) to which I have subscribed to. The most recent issue–just the second one made, actually–had an article in it written by Lisa Altobelli that I think everyone who calls themself an NFL fan needs to read.

Of course I was well aware of what Gonzo has done for the league before I read the article, but the article reiterates his greatness and reassures fans that his loss of the spotlight hasn't phased him one bit. Just like every other season, Gonzalez prepares the same way and goes about his business. According to the article, as well, his teammates have started calling him "Low-key Tony G," which is very fitting for the calm-minded Tony.

What has he done over his decade-and-a-half of play? Simple, he has racked up 1,149 receptions, 13,338 yards and 95 TDs. His reception total is second all-time to the great Jerry Rice, his yardage total 11th all-time and his TD total is 9th all-time (he is six away from passing Steve Largent at No. 6). All three categories rank No. 1 among every other tight end to ever play the game.

What I like most about him, however, is his humbleness and the fact that he focuses more on his blocking techniques than his catching ability because obviously run blocking is No. 1 priority for all tight ends. Their second responsibility is catching passes. He's first one in the facility and often the last one out, according to many of his teammates as well.

What I believe is the reason for his lack of respect among NFL fans, and some experts too, is that he's never really been in those big games. In fact, he's never been fortunate to win a playoff game. In five tries, Gonzo is 0-5 in postseason play. But that's not his fault!

Gonzo hasn't exactly been the brightest star in those postseason games (16 Rec., 157 yards, 2 TDs, 9.8 YPR), but the tight end isn't going to be the game-changer in a big playoff game. He's never really been on an exceptional team and he's actually never really had an exceptional quarterback throwing him passes.

There's Matt Ryan in Atlanta right now, but he's only been there for three seasons. In Kansas City 1997-2008 Gonzo's best quarterback was probably Trent Green ('01-'06). Other than Green, Gonzo had the likes of Elvis Grbac, Rich Gannon, Tyler Thigpen and Damon Huard throwing him passes. Gronkowski/Hernandez, Graham and Jason Witten, who did they have throwing them passes? Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Tony Romo. Even Vernon Davis has had a more capable arm in Alex Smith throwing him the ball (despite 2011 being his first solid season).

The fact Gonzalez has been so healthy, reliable and productive throughout his career with below-average signal callers throwing him passes just makes me respect him even more. Catching passes over defenders seems to come naturally for the 6'5'' former basketball standout.

So, before we go naming Gronk the greatest tight end ever, and possibly a future HOFer (in his second season) if he goes out there on Sunday and rocks New York's defense, lets not forget about poor old Gonzo down south in Atlanta.

Photo credit

With Atlanta: Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images

With Kansas City: borrowed from Sports Crunch

Pro Bowl: Entertainment Solely for the Players

The AFC/NFC Pro Bowl will be played tonight, at 7 P.M. (Eastern Time), in Honolulu, HI. Each year the league struggles to gain viewers for the NFL's version of the all-star game. In fact, this year they are trying something new in an attempt to gain those extra viewers.

They have decided that, since so many players and fans have Twitter pages to entertain themselves and others, they will provide each sideline with a computer set-up with Twitter so that players can tweet while sitting on the sidelines doing nothing.

Personally I think this is a great idea since players aren't allowed to do so during the regular season and playoffs, why not add this dimension to a game that means absolutely nothing. Fans complain about the Pro Bowl being boring each year–and I agree to some extent. But what they don't understand is this game isn't made for the fans.

It's for the players.

Puzzling statement, I know. But I think it's 100% true. While these players have jobs to keep fans and the common people entertained, the 16-game regular season is tough on these multi-millionaires. Five-plus months of non-stop travel, practicing, attending meetings and basically beating the crap out of their bodies in order to bring the very best entertainment each Sunday or Monday.

Ever wonder why the Pro Bowl is in Hawaii? Well, me too. And I have a couple of different theories as to why it's played in Honolulu: 1. Hawaii doesn't experience much NFL action, so this gives them a shot at seeing the all-star players in motion (well, sort of) and 2. It's a perfect vacation spot.

When I say vacation, I mean for the players. Sure, they can take their friends and families on vacation anywhere they want during the off-season, but this is the league's way of rewarding the players that worked so hard over the course of the season. Players have a ball with this Hawaii trip, and often take their entire families and enjoy precious family time.

I think I may be one of the few NFL fans out there that actually sits down and watches the Pro Bowl every single year. And instead of complaining about how boring it may be, or that the players don't even attempt to make an effort to block field goals and extra points, I try to let the players enjoy this one. I mean, just look, these players are enjoying each other's company and on a mini-vacation all at the same time.

I actually don't mind that the Super Bowl teams do not participate, and that many players drop out of the game due to injury. This gives the un-noticed players, and players who were snubbed, get an opportunity to participate and take his family on vacation. There's 43 first-timers in this year's game, giving us plenty of new faces to watch.

Let's just let the players enjoy themselves in Hawaii, please. If you don't like the Pro Bowl, no one is making you watch it, so why complain about it? The Pro Bowl truly has no meaning, and if you think about it, isn't that the fun part about it for the players?

Thank you,

--An annoyed NFL supporter

Photo credit

Tony G. and Roddy White: found on sbnation.com