Would Floyd Mayweather Be an Elite Athlete in Any Other Sport?

Floyd Mayweather is not just any boxer. He's the very best, of his generation for sure, of all time according to some. He's in very rarefied air, in the stratosphere with true legends known worldwide by a single name. 

Michael. LeBron. Tiger. Messi. Ronaldo. Floyd.

"One day I want to go into the Hall of Fame," Mayweather told the media last week. "Not as one of the all-time best, but the best."

Assume, for argument's sake, that Mayweather is indeed the best boxer ever. Where does that put him on the spectrum of the world's great athletes?

Could he have been Bo Jackson or Deion Sanders, major league players in multiple sports? Or would he have been Jordan, the best ever in one sport but a minor league talent in another?

Floyd's been boxing since birth, so there's no real-world data to support a serious analysis either way. He never had a flirtation with basketball like Roy Jones or football like Seth Mitchell. We can only imagine how he would have done if pushed in another direction.

And so we did. How would Floyd do as an NFL quarterback? On the tennis court? In a race car? Read on to find out.

Football: Quarterback

Mayweather loves the limelight. He wasn't born to be an anonymous free safety or a slot receiver. Floyd demands attention and control. In football that means one thing—quarterback.  

Pros

•Razor-sharp intellect. A quarterback has to be the smartest man in the room. Floyd fits that bill, no matter what 50 Cent says. 

•Immediate understanding of tactics. A quarterback has to be a step ahead of the defense. Mayweather is almost always a dozen or more ahead of his opponents, making them dance to his tune. 

Cons:

•Short. Charitably listed at 6'0" even, Saints QB Drew Brees was considered too small to make it in the NFL. At just 5'8" Floyd would be hard-pressed to see above the towering giants on the offensive and defensive line. 

•Doesn't study film. Mayweather likes to figure it out in the ring as he goes. There's a word for NFL quarterbacks who don't like to prepare before a game—unemployed.

•Not a team player. Can you name a single member of Floyd's The Money Team? I rest my case. Floyd is about Floyd. A quarterback has to see the bigger picture.

Verdict: Too small, too self absorbed and perhaps lacking the academic rigor to make it in a position that demands both brains and brawn.

Basketball: Point Guard

Credit: B/R

Football players have to cover their faces with a bulky helmet. No one under 50 watches baseball. That makes basketball Floyd's best bet for the kind of mainstream notoriety he craves. Could he make it on the hardwood?

Pros

•Plays great defense. Mayweather's shoulder roll is legendary, and opponents land just 16 percent of their punches against him. Translated to the court, he'd be the most menacing defender in the league, a gnat constantly buzzing around the ball, always in the perfect position to make a play.

•Sees the floor like no one else. Mayweather has the same gift Larry Bird did—the innate spatial awareness that allows him to know exactly what's happening around him. If he was so inclined, Mayweather would drop dimes John Stockton-style.

•Picks his game up in the fourth quarter. Mayweather often starts slow, giving away some early rounds while he figures out his opponent's rhythm and timing. But, in crunch time, Floyd always seems to come out on top, controlling the latter rounds of a bout like a true maestro. 

Cons

•Short. Look, there's no way around it. Mayweather is a wee man. At 5'8", he's closer to Spud Webb than Allen Iverson. But at least he'd embrace practice! 

•Big ball hog. Mayweather's gifts would make him well suited to a pass-first role. His personality, however, would demand he become the ultimate black hole. I'd expect a minimum of 50 shots a game until he was mysteriously left off the team charter one night.

•He'd be immediately suspended by Adam Silver. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the way Floyd behaves in public? His constant brushes with the law? He'd never make it more than a week before running afoul of the league office. 

Verdict: I cheated a little here. There's actually video of Floyd hooping. Spoiler alert—he's not going to make it.

Baseball: Shortstop

Like boxing, baseball is a fading sport beloved mostly by old men. That would make Mayweather pretty comfortable. But could he cut it on a diamond instead of inside the squared circle?

Pros

•Can see the ball coming. Time seems to slow down around Mayweather. Floyd has a gift that allows him to see punches and respond instinctively and immediately. It's a skill set that should make him a heck of a contact hitter.

•Able to put the ball exactly where he wants it. There is no wasted motion in Mayweather's game. He delivers his punches with pinpoint accuracy, and he lands a staggering 46 percent of his punches, according to Compubox. If he can approximate that average at the plate he'd be a baseball legend. 

•Defensive genius. With a glove on his hand, Mayweather would be the second coming of Ozzie Smith. He often comes out of his bouts looking completely unblemished. He'd pile the Gold Glove trophies right next to the Golden Gloves on his mantle.

Cons

•Can't hit for power. Besides his weird win over Victor Ortiz, Mayweather has scored one knockout in the last eight years. He's no slugger—and home runs are still the one foolproof ticket to Cooperstown.

•Will wear down over 162 games. Sure, he can do well competing once or twice a year. But day after day? Doubleheaders? Mayweather is still fighting at 37 because he pampers himself.  Besides, the grinding baseball season would cut into his shopping time.

Verdict: Why not? He has the vision, speed and spatial awareness to be a defensive wizard. 

Tennis

Credit: B/R image

OK, so history doesn't point to tennis as a potentially lucrative venture for an African-American male. Sure, there was Arthur Ashe. And...James Blake? But mostly there was no one of significance. 

Of course, the same was true for African-American females before the Williams sisters crashed right through the glass ceiling. So it would be unwise to write Floyd off before thoroughly exploring the matter.

Pros

•Conditioning. When your motto is "Hard work. Dedication" you can be relied upon to go the distance. Floyd will be as fresh in the third set as he is in the first. That means something. 

•Can rally in bunches. Like all good boxers, Mayweather throws punches in combination. He's built for clay-court work and the kind of 20-shot back-and-forths little Michael Chang made a career out of winning. 

•Looks good in white. Mayweather is famous for his swag at "all white" parties. He's got a wardrobe for Wimbledon ready to go.

Cons

•Didn't, um, grow up with the sport. "Money" May is from a boxing clan. His daddy was a boxer. His uncles were both boxers. He's spent his life in and around the ring. Tennis? I wonder if he or anyone he grew up with ever picked up a racket? 

•He's tiny. Last year, per The New York Times, nine of the top 32 tennis players stood 6'5" or taller. American John Isner is a whopping 6'10." That puts Floyd at a significant disadvantage.

•He has a louder mouth than McEnroe. For the first time since tennis' 1970s' heyday there would be a voluble star mixing it up out on the court. How would the conservative tennis world react to Mayweather's gaudy displays of wealth and voluminous trash talk? I'd love to find out.

Verdict: This may seem like a reach, but I can totally see Floyd in knee-length white socks returning serves at Roland Garros. 

NASCAR

Wendell Scott broke NASCAR's color barrier in 1961 and is the only black driver to win a race at the highest level, taking the checkered flag in Jacksonville, Florida, way back in 1963. Unfortunately, the racing community wasn't quite ready for that—for years NASCAR refused to recognize his win before posthumously giving his family a long overdue trophy 47 years later.

Make no mistake—there are serious barriers in place. But who better to break them down than Mayweather?

Pros

•Floyd is no stranger to fast cars. He famously keeps two fleets of luxury automobiles. He's used to having a lot of horses at his command.

•He's an extremely focused athlete. When I talked to former NASCAR racer Wally Dallenbach he identified concentration as the key to success on the track. Mayweather is able to lock onto an opponent like a laser in the ring. The same would be true in a race car.

•The man is fast. Watch what he does with a jump rope. Imagine what he could do with a car.

Cons

•Can he drive? Sure, we've seen Floyd in his fast cars on All Access. But does he ever drive them faster than "slow motion?" 

•Not good with endorsements. Mayweather is the highest-paid athlete in the world—despite not making a penny in endorsement money. NASCAR runs off of corporate largesse. He's not a good cultural fit.

•Too good with his fists. When NASCAR teams scuffle, it's mostly for show. Pushing, shoving? Yes. But little actual fighting. Mayweather might actually pop someone in the nose. That's a no-no. 

Verdict: Are you kidding? Each NASCAR race lasts up to five hours. It takes Floyd years to clock that much time in the office at his current job.