Former wide receiver Terrell Owens played 16 seasons in the NFL and dominated the early 2000s. Five First-Team All-Pros, six Pro Bowls, and three touchdown titles pretty much tell the whole story. Owens was a matchup nightmare and a future Hall of Famer long before he ever hung up his cleats. Now, nearly 15 years removed from football, Owens has found a new sport to love. And surprisingly, it is pickleball.
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So what exactly is pickleball? It is widely considered one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. Invented in 1965, the game blends elements of tennis, ping pong, and badminton.
The court is about the size of a badminton court, the paddles look like oversized ping pong bats, and the net sits slightly lower than a tennis net. It can be played in singles or doubles, and many people say it is a walk-up sport where you can grab a paddle, get a few reps in, and be playing in no time. But according to Owens, that idea does not hold up.
The former NFL star believes pickleball demands more strategy than football. And the way he explained the sport made it feel like he was hinting that pickleball is even harder than football.
“More strategy is required to play pickleball, I would say, than football. Both have challenges in their own right when you’re talking mental approach to the game,” Owens said (via The Kitchen Pickleball), adding,
“For a receiver, yeah, you think about the different techniques of a defender, whether they head up inside or outside, whether they’re trying to disguise coverages. But in pickleball, you can hit a ball against one defender or some other opponent; they might or might not get it… If you put it out of reach, if they have the athletic ability and know how to get the ball over the net, and try to figure out like what they’re weak at, you try to exploit their weaknesses.”
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That is a wild take, considering football is often labeled the toughest sport in the world. There’s literally razor-thin odds of even getting drafted, let alone winning a Super Bowl. And Owens himself never won one, although he’s considered one of the greatest to ever lace up for a football game.
And pickleball is actually considered more of a social game than a competitive one. When playing doubles, the partners often stand so close to each other that they can chat while playing. And no offense, but the way Owens was explaining the game, and how one would need to exploit an opponent if they are playing better, that is basically every sport ever.
So his comments seem more like a bold attempt at promoting the sport than anything else. And pickleball does seem fun, but comparing it with football in terms of strategy feels odd. Let’s not forget that NFL teams have hundreds of people in the building working on game strategy for every matchup.
