Only a handful of athletes have played multiple sports and truly excelled at the professional level. And by professional, we don’t mean college — we mean the big leagues. Also, when we say a handful, we’re talking about fewer than ten.
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However, if we consider players who transitioned from one sport to another and found success, that number increases significantly. Even Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes played baseball before making their way to the NFL. But if you ask Chad Johnson, baseball isn’t the ideal starting point — it’s soccer. Sharpe, although, disagrees.
On an episode of Nightcap, Ocho and Unc were posed with a simple question: If your son asks which sport he should start playing at an early age, what would you tell him? The former Bengals wideout said it would be soccer. He argued that no sport sharpens footwork better than soccer, and in his eyes, it’s the best foundation an athlete can have to succeed in other sports.
“I’m telling ’em to play soccer simply for the foundation of having your footwork together… If you start soccer early like I did, it creates a certain fundamental discipline that other sports can’t teach,” said Ocho.
From hockey to basketball to football—the most popular sports in the U.S.—all start with the “lower extremities,” added Ocho. So to him, it only made sense to start with the beautiful game and build from the ground up.
“If you play soccer, it’s different. So, when you transition to something else, you always moving two steps ahead of anybody.”
However, Sharpe wasn’t on board with this answer at all. He made funny, annoyed faces throughout Ocho’s response and even chimed in, “How many American-born soccer players (are there)?”
The former NFL tight end believes that if kids don’t start with baseball, they won’t learn to throw a curveball—and eventually, dimes in tackle football.
“If you don’t play baseball a little soon enough, I don’t care what your feet look like. You ain’t hitting that curve ball,” Unc said.
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Both Unc and Ocho seem to have valid points. Soccer could be fundamental for an NFL athlete, especially kickers. Quick footwork and dribbling skills can also help positions like running backs and wide receivers weave through defenses and gain crucial yards for their teams.
However, as Sharpe pointed out, soccer isn’t a major pipeline to the NFL, NBA, or MLB, and only a few athletes have successfully made the jump from the pitch to the gridiron, hardwood, or diamond.
