Joe Theismann and the ridiculous idea of LeBron as an NFL quarterback

Sometimes at PBT an item crosses our desk (or laptop, in reality) that we shrug off as ludicrous and move on. But then that item circles around to become a thing, a talking point around the Web and we need to address it. This is one of those cases.

Joe Theismann, the former NFL quarterback who changed his last name pronunciation to rhyme with Heisman, thinks he could help LeBron James be an NFL quarterback once he’s done with basketball. That’s what he told Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.

“I would love to work him out and also serve as his agent,” Theismann said in a phone interview Saturday with FOX Sports Florida. “I’ll go wherever he wants this summer. He could play another four years in the NBA before seriously trying the NFL. ... There are not a lot of 38- or 39-year-old basketball players, but there are 38- and 39-year-old quarterbacks, so there’s always time for him.”

This all started because someone asked LeBron if he thought he could have been a good quarterback.

“I think so,” said James, who played quarterback on the freshman team at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio, in 1999 before shifting to wide receiver on the varsity in 2000 and 2001. As a senior in 2002, James chose to concentrate on basketball. “I have the ability. I can see and read plays. I study a lot, so I know defenses and things of that nature. So I would have been pretty good if I had decided to go for it.”

Ugh.

Is there any athlete in any sport that doesn’t think he could have been absolutely great at some other job? They all think they could be rap stars or congressmen or business tycoons or whatever. It’s rarely true.

Does LeBron James have the athleticism to play in the NFL? Yes. Even his most ardent critics grant he’s a physical freak of nature. Does LeBron have the mentality to take the punishment that comes with playing in the NFL? I don’t know, I don’t care enough to think about it, so draw your own conclusions.

Why is Theismann even discussing this? I think the omniscient (and seemingly omnipresent) Mike Florio summed it up well at ProFootballTalk.

So why is Theismann willing to help James? “I need a job,” Theismann said.

Apparently, hawking prostate pills doesn’t pay as much as you’d think.