If Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco can ride bulls and audition for a Major League Soccer team, why can't NBA player Nate Robinson try out for an NFL team?
Robinson told SLAM online Monday that should the NBA lockout linger, he would consider returning to the sport that landed him a scholarship at the University of Washington.
"I might go play football," Robinson said. "Do something nobody has tried to do."
Brandt: Give Robinson a shot
Nate Robinson is an exceptional athlete with exceptional quickness. When you add those traits together, you have a guy who can play in the NFL,
Gil Brandt writes. **More ...**
Robinson, who won the slam dunk title at NBA All-Star Weekend in 2006 and '09 despite measuring just 5-foot-9, was recruited to Washington to play football. Robinson, who has a 43.5-inch vertical leap, excelled at cornerback for one season for the Huskies before dedicating himself full-time to basketball.
"If I can, I would love to play football a little bit," said Robinson, a first-round NBA draft pick in 2005. "I've been doing a little bit of training."
Robinson, who has one year remaining on his contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder, has football in his blood.
His father, Jacque, was an eighth-round selection of the Buffalo Bills in the 1985 NFL Draft after a standout career at Washington. He capped his college career with an MVP performance in the 1985 Orange Bowl, rushing for 135 yards against Oklahoma.
Jacque Robinson played three games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1987.
And what if the NFL lockout remains in effect, leaving Robinson with no league in which to play?
"If their lockout (the NFL) goes the whole season, then I'm gonna go play basketball overseas," he said.
