LeBron James has NFL quarterback potential, says Joe Theismann

Joe Theismann wants to be LeBron James' agent and mentor if (when?!) the NBA superstar decides to make the transition to NFL quarterback.

By Louis Bien@louisbien May 27, 2013, 8:37am EDT

Joe Theismann thinks that LeBron James has NFL potential at quarterback, and if the NBA superstar is willing to talk, Theismann is willing to work with him as an agent and mentor. James hasn't played quarterback since his freshman year at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio and hasn't played football, period, since his junior year. Regardless, Theismann thinks that James has the tools to be great.

"I wouldn't count him out. He's the most tremendous physical specimen in all of sports," Theismann said. "I think he's certainly talented enough. He's intelligent. He's like the quarterback on the Miami Heat, but there are so many things (to being an NFL quarterback).

"There's reading defenses. There's throwing the ball with touch. There's throwing a spiral in the wind. Maybe his hands are too big. The football is a different shape, and a basketball is obviously a lot bigger than a football."

Theismann's last point about a football being a completely different size and shape is a good one. There is also the point that basketball and football are entirely different sports with different skillsets and that making mid-career switch to another sport has rarely been successful for anyone.

Theismann still wants James to give signal-calling a shot, however. Theismann calls Memphis home, and if the Grizzlies can overcome a 3-0 deficit to the San Antonio Spurs and meet the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, he says he will seek out James and propose his idea directly. That brings us to the most important takeaway from the article: