With Nate Robinson’s basketball career on the decline, it seemed as if the annual NBA dunk contest was the only thing keeping him in the spotlight. Now, he’s hoping a spot on an NFL roster will.
According to the Washington Post, former NBA star Nate Robinson had a tryout Monday with the Seattle Seahawks.
The 5-foot-9, 32-year-old point gaurd is currently playing basketball overseas in Isreal, yet has finally decided to take his NFL dreams seriously.
Hoping on playing cornerback, a position which a player his size may not be the end all-be all, Robinson told ESPN, “I need to get a little stronger, a little faster. Lifting weights and watching a lot of film. Work on my feet and my hands and how to press. Basic stuff. I catch on pretty fast. Just learn some of the drills they’d have me do and start practicing and get ready for it.”
He added, “The biggest challenge is probably all the haters, everybody counting me out, somebody not really giving me the opportunity. That’s what I think the biggest challenge will be, getting somebody to give me that chance. If somebody gives me that chance, I know they’ll fall in love with the fierce competitor that I am because I catch on quick. Once I do that, then the sky’s the limit. I don’t know. It seems like they wouldn’t want me to be the first one to do something like this. That’s a huge challenge.”
Now unlike two-sport hopefuls like Michael Jordan and alike, according to many Robinson was a better football player in highschool than he was basketball player. The Seattle native earned a football scholarship and went on to play for the University of Washington before transitioning to solely a basketball player.
Selected in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft, he played 11 seasons in the league and won three slam dunk contests.
