As the NFL is putting the finishing touches on preparations for next week’s wave of rookies, there’s another one who wants to get on their radar who has an experience advantage, if not height.
Longtime short NBA point guard Nate Robinson said he wants to try to resume his football playing career, and has talked to some scouts about setting up workouts when he gets back to the United States.
After playing 11 years in the NBA, he’s now playing basketball in Israel, for Hapoel Tel Aviv.
“It’s a big-time dream,” he said of playing in the NFL, via Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com. “Something I’ve always wanted to do, play both sports at the highest level. We’ll see if I can be the first one to really do it.”
Well, he wouldn’t be the first, since former Vikings coach Bud Grant played in the NBA and the NFL, and Hall of Famer Otto Graham played professional basketball before the NBA as we know it was formed.
But the 5-foot-9 Robinson does have some degree of resume, having played cornerback at the University of Washington, but quitting after his freshman season to concentrate on basketball (a decision sparked by the school firing coach Rick Neuheisel, who recruited him).
Robinson has commitments there until June, and hasn’t really done any football-specific training. But he hopes someone will give him a chance to try out. He said he’s had some contact with scouts, specifically mentioning the Seahawks and the Patriots.
“The biggest challenge is probably all the haters, everybody counting me out, somebody not really giving me the opportunity,” he said. “That’s what I think the biggest challenge will be, getting somebody to give me that chance. If somebody gives me that chance, I know they’ll fall in love with the fierce competitor that I am because I catch on quick. Once I do that, then the sky’s the limit. I don’t know. It seems like they wouldn’t want me to be the first one to do something like this. That’s a huge challenge.”
Actually, his biggest challenge may be the fact he’s about to turn 32, and that he’s a 5-foot-9 guy who hasn’t played organized football in over a decade. But yeah, it’s probably the haters.
While the Napoleon complex might have served him well in making the NBA as an underdog, motivation alone isn’t going to get him to the NFL, even if someone gives him a courtesy workout so he can become this year’s inspirational hard-working camp invite who doesn’t have much of a chance to make the team.
But with rosters at 90, there are worse uses of opportunities, which we say just so we don’t get labeled a hater. At least before the sun comes up.
