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What NFL player would be the best soccer player?

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bonedaddy401

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Aug 3, 2012
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Bigger stronger faster? How does Altidore stack up?

I gotta think a Desean Jackson type or Adrien Peterson would be the best athletes on the field. Age old question I know.

I'm gna pick Megatron. That'd be fun to watch down the field or in set pieces.
 
dawgstudent

dawgstudent

Heisman
Apr 15, 2003
39,469
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The problem is you can't sub freely and have specialized players. I don't think the players you mentioned would be able to learn the skill to compete on a world level as an adult.
 
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bonedaddy401

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Totally agree. I should have clarified, if they never played football and had played soccer the same amount of time growing up as our competition.
 
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msstate7

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bonedaddy401 said:
Totally agree. I should have clarified, if they never played football and had played soccer the same amount of time growing up as our competition.
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Problem is chicks don't dig the yellow card. Our best athletes will never choose soccer.
 
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Sutterkane

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Jan 23, 2007
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Chris Johnson would probably be pretty good; pretty much anybody with speed and good coordination coupled with field vision.
 
jethreauxdawg

jethreauxdawg

Heisman
Dec 20, 2010
10,784
14,134
113
Agree that someone like megatron would be scary on a corner kick. Any receiver or db would probably a good soccer player. I think NBA players may be better soccer players, because I think they are more athletic as a whole
 
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UpTheMiddlex3Punt

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May 28, 2007
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If I could pick all time I'd go with Jerry Rice. Dude wasn't the fastest but was always in position. I also think he had the conditioning to run around for ninety minutes.
 
mcdawg22

mcdawg22

Heisman
Sep 18, 2004
13,202
10,853
113
DB's all day. The quick twitch muscles fast reaction times. Reading opponents hips and ablility to change directions. Give me Revis, Sherman, Peterson, Bailey, and Honey Badger types. Hell Honey Badger even has the hair.
 
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Shamoan

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Jun 27, 2013
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chris johnson in his prime comes to mind too. elite speed...the problem is much of the opposition grows up kicking the ball around at a very young age and can use their feet nearly as well as their hands. you just cant take a professional nfl/nba/mlb player and make him a great soccer player even with intense training.
 
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esplanade91

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Dec 9, 2010
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Name the fastest 40's with the highest Wonderlic's. Soccer is probably the hardest mental sport in the world to play minus being a quarterback.

Have any of y'all ever had to take the Wonderlic? I had to for work. My 1st time I had a 21, and I've made fun of several players (namely Cam Newton) for making a 21 before.

My 2nd time I made above a 30, but damn. It's hard.

Ochocinco was a highly regarded MLS prospect in high school but his grandmother convinced him there was little $$$ in soccer. He tried soccer during the lockout a little after his prime and he was god awful. Granted, he tried out with one of the best MLS teams... But he couldn't make their 2nd team. You'd think as a professional athlete of any capacity you'd be able to make an MLS 2nd team.
 
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Desoto

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I honestly believe if you took the top tier of players from all of "our" sports, they all would be very good soccer players. If they had focused all their time there.
 
The Peeper

The Peeper

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Feb 26, 2008
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10,635
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I would have to go with any punter, you know the way they drop and pretend to be hit trying to draw a roughing penalty?
 
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esplanade91

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Desoto said:
I honestly believe if you took the top tier of players from all of "our" sports, they all would be very good soccer players. If they had focused all their time there.
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Bull ****. There's no one on this board who believes in American Exceptionalism more than I do... But soccer isn't just "who's the best athlete" and when it gets made into that argument I truly feel like a stupid American that everyone talks about.

Neymar wouldn't crack the top 100 "best athletes" list in the NFL, MLB, or NBA. What makes him great is his instincts and skill. You're assuming that guys like Reggie Bush would be just as good at soccer as football if he had dedicated his life to soccer in 9th grade. Neymar has been playing against guys who could make the MLS all star squad at the age of 15 years old since HE was 6 year olds. In order for our best athletes to be able to get on Neymar's level we need to establish a strong domestic league and not a soccer mom league. Until our children in Mississippi are getting involved in an MLS academy, we're going to be laughed at we're going to relying on 'smarts'.
 
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Desoto

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That's right Trout, megatron, and lebron couldn't play anything else. And if you don't think neymar couldn't play PG or 2B your crazy. If he had been playing since he was 3? Come on.
 
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Desoto

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And this argument is based on the fact of having the same opportunities as neymar. We are talking hypotheticals man. Also your right until we establish ourselves none of what I said will ever happen.
 
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esplanade91

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Desoto said:
That's right Trout, megatron, and lebron couldn't play anything else. And if you don't think neymar couldn't play PG or 2B your crazy. If he had been playing since he was 3? Come on.
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And Bruce Jenner could have been an NBA point guard? Johnny Mac would have been a rival to Pete Rose? Horse ****. That's ignorant. That's like saying Steve Jobs couldn't have been an exeptional accountant and Rockerfeller could have been just as successful had he decided to become an evangelist instead of an oil barron.
 
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esplanade91

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Desoto said:
And this argument is based on the fact of having the same opportunities as neymar. We are talking hypotheticals man. Also your right until we establish ourselves none of what I said will ever happen.
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Well it's still ********. Hypothetically if Neymar grew up playing basketball in Chicago like Anthony Davis and number of NBA players.... I'm not going to base his athleticism and skill at one sport at him being able to play another...

How many examples do you need? The most famous pro athlete in American sports history 'quit' basketball at the height of his popularity to play a different sport he had JUST as much experience in and was worse at that than my cousin Jeff in who smoked pot 3 times a day and sparingly practiced.

Bo Jackson is the only athlete to ever play 2 different sports at a professional level, and you're not going to convince me that even he would be a pro soccer player simply because he decided to play it. There's a reason that in the history of America we have never produced a major pro. It goes much deeper than "our best athletes don't play"... It's that our best athletes who do play play against people like you when you were a kid who stand still in a field in Hurley, MS and get a pizza party for their success. And when they make varsity for their success of running around in a field around people standing still they get rewarded with coaches who are ****.
 
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messageboardsuperhero

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esplanade91 said:
Well it's still ********. Hypothetically if Neymar grew up playing basketball in Chicago like Anthony Davis and number of NBA players.... I'm not going to base his athleticism and skill at one sport at him being able to play another...

How many examples do you need? The most famous pro athlete in American sports history 'quit' basketball at the height of his popularity to play a different sport he had JUST as much experience in and was worse at that than my cousin Jeff in who smoked pot 3 times a day and sparingly practiced.

Bo Jackson is the only athlete to ever play 2 different sports at a professional level, and you're not going to convince me that even he would be a pro soccer player simply because he decided to play it. There's a reason that in the history of America we have never produced a major pro. It goes much deeper than "our best athletes don't play"... It's that our best athletes who do play play against people like you when you were a kid who stand still in a field in Hurley, MS and get a pizza party for their success. And when they make varsity for their success of running around in a field around people standing still they get rewarded with coaches who are ****.
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Uh... You sure about that bro?

View attachment 840
 
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Optimus Prime 4

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this is possibly the least factually correct post ever, which is impressive. Insert Adam Sandler rant, may god have mercy on your soul
 
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bonedaddy401

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Looks like we have a soccer snob on our hands. Take it more serious bud. Geez.

If the USA's very best athletes grew up playing primarily soccer our team would be much better than the one we just watched. If you think otherwise you are just trying to hard.
 
aTotal360

aTotal360

Heisman
Nov 12, 2009
21,797
14,491
113
Exactly. I don't think we are that far off in terms of athleticism. But most of our players are technically and physically inferior. I haven't checked, but it looks like the majority of our players are 5'8'', 165 lbs. The elite squads have a lot of 6'0'' tall players that are equally (or more) athletic than us. "Jose" and Howard are the only players that look like fine tuned machines.

Yes, I realize size isn't everything in soccer. Messi is a dink and so was Maradona. I get that. But size certainly helps defending, especially set pieces.
 
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