What If - America's Athletes Played More International Football?

I’m going to start with a few definitions to clear up any confusion. Being an American writer, most people will probably assume that when I say football I mean the game that is referred to as football in America and expect me to refer to real football as soccer. This will not be the case today; I will use American football and football.

There’s no doubt that professional athletes have an advantage over the average American when it comes to playing other sports. Someone who plays basketball, football, or hockey all the time, but recreationaly, are probably no match for the top athletes from other sports, just because of how much faster, stronger and bigger they are.

Well, maybe not hockey players, because if these athletes have never skated before, they don’t stand a chance. What if America’s top professional athletes grew up playing football instead of their current sport? I’m going to choose a few of the top American athletes in each sport and speculate as to how successful they would be on the pitch if they had spent their lives honing their football skills.

Michael Vick:

Vick has incredible speed and agility. He has unbelievable acceleration. To play quarterback in the NFL, he has to have great vision and awareness. Assuming he doesn’t get into dog fighting as a football player, he would probably develop into a great finisher.

On the field, he plays a flashy game that would translate into football, as he would probably develop decent dribbling abilities but most of his game would be getting the ball, sprint, shoot, and score. I envision that he would be a Thierry Henry type forward. He would score many goals as a world-class finisher and a very calm player with the ball.

Dwayne Wade:

Wade is one of the top players in the NBA. He has agility speed and acceleration, and they are all top notch. He has great leaping ability, which is handy for winning balls out of the air, and he hustles and plays defense.

If he had played football instead, the things he can do with his hands, he would be able to do with his feet. Watching him play, he seems to be able to make some ridiculous passes, which one could assume is because he has such great vision and awareness.

On the football pitch, vision and awareness are important, especially for someone like Wade, who would probably develop into a dribbling machine, drawing defensemen to him, leaving teammates open, or leaving space for teammates to run into should he float a ball there.

I feel like he would be a Cristiano Ronaldo type player, play wing in the midfield. He would be in charge of taking the ball up the line and setting up for a cross or finding a way to goal, or finding a player with a crisp pass towards the middle.

Andy Roddick:

Roddick possesses great quickness; his footwork is top notch and his ability to move side-to-side is pretty good.

If he were to play football, I feel that his quickness would better translate into the defending side of football

He would most likely become a very good defender due to his ability to move laterally quite fast, a valuable asset when defending. I feel as though he could become a Ricardo Carvalho type player. Roddick would be a shut down defenseman who is called upon to defend the opponent’s best forwards.

Mike Modano:

Leadership is probably the most important aspect here. He is a great skater, has vision and a high hockey IQ. While skating isn’t important in football, he would probably be just as hard a runner and as strong on his feet, as he is on his skates. I envision that Modano would be able to dictate play and speed it up or slow it down as necessary.

His IQ would translate into football allowing him to know when to attack, when to slow down (offensively), and (when on defense) when to apply pressure and when to just shadow the ball and slow down play so teammates can get back.

As hockey’s leading American scorer of all time, he probably won’t be the best scorer in football, but he would be able to score timely goals, and when necessary, eat up the clock but taking charge of the offense. I think he would be a Juan Riquelme type central midfielder.

Chris Drury:

Drury is not really a flashy player, he just goes out there and gets stuff done and does all the little things the right way. He doesn’t seem to be a top producer, but he is involved quite frequently when his team scores, whether it’s him or the person he passed the puck too.

If he were to have played football instead, he would be the same type of player. Drury would hit the pitch and do what needs to be done. Offensively, defensively, in transition, without the ball, with the ball, Drury would do everything right. He would be difficult to beat, and if you do stop him, he could just find a way to make a play for someone else. I envision he would be a Claudio Reyna type central midfielder.

He would be involved in the attack, making sure it doesn’t get ahead of itself, controlling the play and making sure that mistakes aren’t made too often. One thing people do complain about quite often when speaking of Reyna however, is that he lacks the ability to run a full on attack mode team.

Drury paired with Modano would make that argument mute. I also don’t think that is true of Reyna, but that is for another time. On the other hand, that will probably be the difference between Drury and Reyna, as he will be able to lead an attack quite effectively.

Nomar Garciaparra:

He actually grew up playing football, and he was pretty good. If he had focused more on football then he would’ve been able to play professionally and probably internationally. He has relatives who play or have played football at least at the club level and he is even on the same bloodline as a legendary Mexican International Goalkeeper.

There’s no doubt in my mind that if Garciaparra had pursued a football career instead of baseball, he would have had just as good a career. I’m going to assume that he was a midfielder or maybe a forward. I’m thinking a Cesc Fabregas or Fernando Torres. Although, it is possible he was a goalie, in that case, I am thinking the Portuguese Ricardo.

Conclusion:

As you can see, the United States of America have plenty of athletes that, if they had chosen football instead of their current trade, they would probably be international level players because that is where they currently are in their own sports. One thing American youth has to realize is that not to look at how little fame and money football players get in the US, but to look at how much they get abroad.

The European players are some of the world’s most famous people and earn some of the biggest contracts. What it will take for Americans to accept football as they do American football, baseball, and basketball is a series of successes by the international team.