Nate Robinson Announces Plans To Be A Football
As his NBA career begins winding down, 5′9″ guard Nate Robinson has now begun to explore his options for the future. The 31-year-old announced this week that he intends to switch sports and be a football.
Pictured: Nate Robinson
Robinson played football at the University of Washington but began to focus solely on basketball when he was a sophomore. Prior to the switch, he recorded two interceptions as a freshman cornerback for the Huskies in 2002. Now, he hopes he will be the one being intercepted by teams this fall.
Rick Neuheisel, Robinson's coach from Washington, said , "In my mind, I've seen one athlete small enough to do this, and that's Nate Robinson. He’s so little!"
For reference, a regulation football is 28–29 inches in circumference, and 21.5–21.9 inches, and is inflated to a pressure of 9.0–11.0 pounds per square inch. At regulation size, Robinson is 69 inches in length and weighs 180 pounds.
Pictured: A Football
Whatever Robinson has lacked in size over the years, he's made up for with explosiveness, grit, and hang time; despite his size, he’s won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest three times. He’ll need all of these qualities to be able to be punted, passed, and kicked through the air as a football.
“I haven’t played (football) in 11 years, 12 years, but I know how to (be) tackle(d as a football in a player’s arms). I know how to (be) play(ed with), I know how to hit (the uprights of a goal post, or a kicker’s foot), I know how to (become a) catch (by a receiver), I can get (caught as) picks (by a defensive player), I can get deflections (by various players hands), I know all techniques (of how to be more ball-like),” said Robinson. “I know it (b)all. What are all those extra notes you’re making in your notepad right now?”















