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Inspired by
and my recent laments that I no longer get to watch one of my favorite sports (sumo) on account of not living in Japan, I'm wondering what class of athletes you guys think would be successful if they made the transition.
I've often wondered why the NFL doesn't get kickers from rugby/converted soccer goalies... you know, things like that.
Or why Usain Bolt isn't lining up across from Randy Moss.
Or why we don't bring sumo wrestlers across to be linemen/hockey goalies
American professional leagues tend to pay better than a lot of the less popular sports here that are bigger in the rest of the world... it just seems like maybe we should recruit more top-class athletes in those sports to make transitions, and I'm wondering
A. if you think this idea is insane, and
B. where you think your most likely targets are
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ud2
(United States)
1,788
Posts.
Joined
12-08-2006.
11-02-2009 8:02 PM
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Hocker player to figure skater...
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NFL does have some ex-rugby league players.
It takes more then being fast to be a DB or WR in the NFL
Sumo wrestlers can't move, they would get crushed by guys like Jared Allen, Dwight Freeney, Julius Peppers, etc.
Anyways to answer the question:
Lebron James could be a sick TE or WR in the NFL
Julius Peppers would be a terror at PF
Some RB's or FB's or LB's in the NFL would be great 4 man or 2 man bobsled guys
A select few athletes are talented enough to play at a top level in another sport by select few probably 1%, which means there are probably 100 guys in the 4 major sports who could crossover and play another sport, the most obvious being NFL players to NBA players or vice versa.
You still need talent, it's not just about speed, size, or physical attributes.
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Milo
(Canada)
1,088
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Joined
03-02-2008.
11-02-2009 8:02 PM
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I believe the athletes best suited to switching sports would be soccer players. There conditioning would mean that it would only be a question of "technical" adaptation. After all, a soccer guy won the Superstars competition the first two (?) years.
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budo09
(United States)
372
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Joined
03-13-2009.
11-02-2009 8:09 PM
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Tiger Woods is the best athlete in the world. He could easily be a star NBA/NFL player. No doubt.
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zander
(United States)
1,727
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Joined
12-19-2006.
11-02-2009 8:15 PM
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 mkm44: | |
It takes more then being fast to be a DB or WR in the NFL
Sumo wrestlers can't move
You still need talent, it's not just about speed, size, or physical attributes.
I brought the Bolt example up specifically because of James Jett who used to play for the Raiders... obviously if Bolt declares he's the Raiders' first round pick next year.
The Sumo comment is amazingly inaccurate. They start their bouts pretty much exactly like linemen only without all the padding as they slam into each other from a crouched start with hands on the ground and attempt to move the other man backwards...
And of course you need talent, but I think there are quite a few talents that translate in world class athletes because a lot of roles you play in one sport are similar to those in other sports...
Basketball players as tight ends is definitely a good plan. Antonio Gates ftw.
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LOL @ thinking a sumo wrestler could be a hockey goalie. Such hockey ignoranceaments.
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krs33
(United States)
1,006
Posts.
Joined
09-10-2007.
11-02-2009 8:25 PM
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joe mauer would be a really good nfl qb. he was the nat'l high school player of the year and the #1 recruit in the country but instead he decided to own at baseball.
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I think Walter Dix at halfback would be considerably more insane to watch than Usain Bolt at WR.
Walter Dix's pr in the 100 is 9.91, which is already extremely fast, but, he's actually a LOT faster than the 9.91 indicates. He is one of the slowest starters in the history of world class sprinting, practically crawls out of the blocks and takes a nap before finally waking up around the 40 meter mark and starting to actually run, but he has one of the highest top speeds of any human beings in existence. Walter Dix, Tyson Gay, and Usain Bolt all have top speeds that are within about half a mile per hour of each other, with Usain having the highest top speed of the 3, but only by a fraction of a mile per hour (Usain accelerates a lot faster between the 30 and 60 meter markers than Tyson Gay and Walter Dix, which is why his times are faster than theirs are).
The thing is though, Walter Dix is shaped like a cannonball. He's 5 foot 8, 200+ lbs, sort of a Maurice Drew type guy, except much much much much faster than Maurice Drew (and anyone in the NFL for that matter).
If they taught Walter how to run screen plays, and sweeps/reverses, he would be turning the corner on people and plowing through tackles and breaking into open field constantly, and the secondary wouldn't even have a chance, he would just fly right by them like they were standing still. This is a guy who can run at least 1 and a half mph faster at top speed than the current fastest guy in the NFL and at least 3-4 mph faster than most NFL defensive backs.
And of course also put him on kick returns and especially punt returns.
Would be very exciting to watch.
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Big Ben could switch it up
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Lebron James would make a hell of a WR
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If he is a slow starter then he would struggle at rb. Acceleration is one the most important things for a rb. being full speed at one or two steps is much more important than super fast top end speed.
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| budo09: | |
Tiger Woods is the best athlete in the world. He could easily be a star NBA/NFL player. No doubt.
not this stupidity again
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LOL @ thinking a sumo wrestler could be a hockey goalie. Such hockey ignoranceaments.
so this
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