There are several athletes in the major pro sports that we talk about in terms of what it would be like if they played another sport.
A lot of the time the question revolves around basketball players transitioning to the NFL or vice versa. Some of those athletes were great in dual sports and think about making the jump.
Chicago Bulls point guard Nate Robinson was once an All American running back in high school who considered USC and Pete Carroll before deciding on the Washington Huskies.
Robinson considered playing both sports at Washington, but stuck with hoops. Robinson who was unemployed and not sure who would sign him this off-season, told ESPN Chicago that he considered calling his old friend Carroll and asking to tryout for the Seattle Seahawks.
“If I didn’t (make a basketball team) I was going to go play football,” Robinson said. “So it really didn’t matter to me … I was going to try out if I didn’t get a job in basketball.”
“I was trying to go try out for the Seahawks during the (2011 NBA) lockout,” Robinson said. “If no team wanted me to play basketball, I was going to go play football.”
Robinson once was offered a tryout by Seattle, but never took it serious. Nate is taller than Seattle return man Leon Washington, and he is as physical a basketball player as you’ll see.
I have no doubt Nate could have played defensive back or some type of skill position.