This is a very Pete Carroll move. And a very Nate Robinson move.
Robinson was an undersized but feisty cornerback at the University of Washington before he was an undersized but feisty NBA point guard. While other guys have talked of going to Europe during the NBA lockout Robinson has talked of playing in the NFL. Sure, it’s kind of crazy talk, but we keep reporting to you how a Turkish team wants to sign Kobe Bryant so where do we draw the line on crazy anymore?
In a twitter exchange this week, Seattle coach Carroll invited Robinson out to Seahawks camp. The Seattle Times tracked the details.“We know you have great handles, but the question is: does it translate to DB skills?” Carroll said to Robinson, via Twitter. “I kinda think it does.”
Robinson said via Twitter that he was ready to show Carroll he still had some football skills. “Coach give me a chance and I’ll prove it to u,” he said.
Carroll said practice started at 1:30 p.m., and requested Robinson bring his cleats. Practice came and went without an appearance from Robinson.
“He may be a little distracted with basketball, I don’t know,” Carroll said afterward. “If he is, he probably won’t be able to do it. But if he can get focused, there’s always a chance.”
There is a little bit of a relationship there — Carroll tried to recruit Robinson to USC back in the day, but Robinson stayed hom and went to Washington.
Robinson has one more year at $4.5 million left on his NBA contract, where in the NFL — if he made the team, which is a wild long shot — he would get a league minimum contract of a couple hundred thousand. And if he gets injured, something with a real chance in the NFL the Thunder could void his entire deal.
So showing up to camp for a day could be fun. It would be good PR. But Nate isn’t going to play in the NFL, that would be bad business.