LaVar Ball Reveals Why His NFL Career Failed, Continues to Rip Rob Gronkowski
LaVar Ball has said he was good enough to make it in the NFL and was a better player than Rob Gronkowski, although he noted he "didn't have the right guys" behind him.
TMZ spoke with the 48-year-old about his exploits on the football field, and Ball opened up on why he failed to reach the summit of the sport despite possessing, what he suggested, were the natural gifts to do so.
"Didn't have the right guys behind me," he said. "I did an NFL tryout and I didn't even play college football. That's how good I was. I was 270 pounds with a 48-inch vertical, benching 500 pounds, running a 4.5, 4.6."
Here's a listen to what Ball had to say in full:
When asked about the New England Patriots man in particular, Ball said he would be able to get the better of him: "In my time, yes [I was better]. I was faster, strong, could jump higher. You've seen what he did, you seen what I did. You have to have the right coach to get behind you to let you loose."
Ball went on to see he was an "athlete" and during his prime he was "top notch." He finished on Gronkowski saying "I know he wasn't stronger than me, I know he wasn't faster than me and I know he couldn't catch me; so I consider myself better."
It's not the first time Ball has hit out at Gronkowski, as he told The Really Big Show (h/t TMZ) that the Patriots man couldn't "hang with me back in my heyday."
While Ball talks a good game, he never took to the field in a competitive NFL fixture, that despite spells in the practice squads of the New York Jets in 1994 and the Carolina Panthers in 1996.
The man known as the Big Baller is renowned for making outlandish suggestions. He told TMZ recently that'd he'd beat iconic basketball player Michael Jordan with one arm tied behind his back.
