LeBron James “Would Have Been the Best Tight End of All Time,” NFL GM Says

An NFL GM believes LeBron James would have been the “best tight end of all time” if he played pro football.

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Complex Original

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Back when LeBron James was still just a sophomore in high school, current Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer—then just a lowly wide receivers coach for Notre Dame—visited him in his hometown of Akron, Ohio to offer him a scholarship to play college football. At the time, LeBron told Meyer, "Thank you very much, I'll consider it," and LeBron's coach laughed at Meyer. Unaware of what the hell was so funny, Meyer sat down with LeBron's coach later and had to be told why LeBron wasn't quicker to jump at the chance to play football for the Fighting Irish. Here's how Meyer remembered that sitdown with LeBron's coach in 2012:

"I didn't know what he was laughing at, so we went down and sat in a room and he said, 'Do you know who that is?' and I said, 'No' and he said, 'LeBron James' and I said, 'Who's LeBron James?' and he said, 'He'll be the next Michael Jordan.' And I go, 'Come on.'"

Nearly 20 years after Meyer's initial meeting with LeBron, the idea of him pursuing a football scholarship instead of preparing himself for the NBA and making the jump to the league still sounds every bit as laughable as it was back then. Yes, LeBron was an all-state wideout as a sophomore and junior at St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, and yes, he could have attended Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Miami, or, as we just mentioned, Notre Dame, which were all schools that actively recruited him. But LeBron was obviously born to play basketball.

It's fun to imagine what might have happened if LeBron had gone in the other direction, though, and Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman just did it by speaking with various NFL personnel to try and get a read on how LeBron might have done if he had played college football and then gone pro. And while it's unclear how many NFL scouts and general managers Freeman spoke with, those that spoke with him all seemed to give LeBron glowing reviews.

One NFL GM thinks LeBron could have been the G.O.A.T. at the tight end position if he would have stuck with football. "LeBron James would have been the best tight end of all time," he said. "He would have been Rob Gronkowski before Rob Gronkowski. No one would be able to cover him. He would have set records every season."

An anonymous scout took it a step further. According to Freeman, that scout told him he feels LeBron would have been "one of the 10 best football players of all time."

And while none of the people Freeman spoke with actually identified themselves, there were other executives who told him they felt LeBron would have been a Pro Bowl player in the NFL. Some even went as far as to suggest that he would have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day.

We'll never know what would've happened had LeBron chosen the gridiron over hoops. In fact, for all we know, he would've gotten his ACL busted during his first route of his first game. Still, it's fun to dream of a world where crazy people on the internet are arguing over who's better, LeBron or Gronk, instead of a reality where crazy people on the internet argue over who's better, LeBron or Jordan. Oh, and also, a football helmet would've prevented a lifetime of hairline jokes for LeBron.

Anyway, nobody's stopping you from exploring this alternate universe by creating a LeBron character in Madden. Just saying.

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