It’s odd, but the bowling alley brawl in Virginia actually helped pave the way for the NBA star we know today as Allen Iverson.
Iverson was a standout on the gridiron, and has said himself — often — that he would have played football in college, rather than hoops.
During a wonderfully written sit down with Bleacher Report, Iverson revealed that he likely would have attended Notre Dame –where in his words — he would have been their biggest star since ‘The Rocket.”
Until the bowling alley incident—a brawl that eventually led to Iverson, 17-year-old, being convicted as an adult of maiming by mob—turned his life upside down, he says he would have gone to Notre Dame to play quarterback, return kicks and win the Heisman Trophy. He would have done what Lou Holtz asked and showed them he was faster than Raghib “Rocket” Ismail. “I loved those gold helmets,” Iverson says longingly. Then it would be on to the NFL, hopefully the Cowboys.
That truly would have been a site to see. I believe Holtz actually would have been one of the few coaches, that would have allowed Iverson to play quarterback on the collegiate level.
Most programs recruited him as a safety.