# If soccer was America's #1 sport, who'd be our best players? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [July 2, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366 "2010-07-02T23:41:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/21 "2010-07-04T05:04:51Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > What do their equivalents in other countries play, since they’re not playing soccer? Or do they not exist? Guys like Kobe Bryant play basketball. There are a lot of foreign imports into basketball now and good leagues in Europe. Big, strong guys might play rugby or ice hockey. Baseball type guys might play cricket, although I think there are a few MLB types that would make good soccer players. A Rod, Pedroia, Ellsbury might all make good soccer players. Big, strong, quick athletic guys with good coordination, but not too big or over muscled, so most power hitters probably wouldn’t be a good fit. Most NFL guys wouldn’t be a good fit, although DBs would be close. Ochocinco is a big soccer fan, btw and is friends with Drogba. I’d think most NBA guys would be too big for soccer, although I’d guess that some of the guys who like to play basketball but just don’t have the size to go pro might make good soccer players. ---
**Author:** ![wintertime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@wintertime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wintertime)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/22 "2010-07-04T09:29:08Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > If all of the athletes in our country would be pushed to just one sport, I think you’d see that the USA would end up with a large trove of top-tier soccer players. Sure, no doubt about that. Just like all the South American or European teams would have an even larger talent pool if all our athletes would end up playing football. But such a pool is just one precondition and a large one not even necessary. Holland is just a speck on Europe’s map with 16. Mio people, who have quite a lot of other things to be interested in apart from football. And yet, they have produced and shaped talent in enormous numbers over decades and have played a very sophisticated interpretation of the sport as long as I can remember. > [@EllisDee](#): > > These guys were obviously outliers, but with the amount of pressure put on specialization, the fact that they were able to shine in multiple sports at the highest level is evidence that athleticism is its own aptitude; the particular skillset an individual sport requires is a secondary concern. I have seen Dirk Nowitzki play football – it’s not a secondary concern. 😉 But seriously, in general I agree with you: outstanding athleticism is such an advantage that I’d expect everyone gifted this way to be good in any sport, as long as the particular body type of the athlete isn’t too far removed from the specific requirements of a certain sport. I very much doubt that Shaq would have been a decent football player, for example. Also, great eye-to-hand coordination doesn’t necessarily mean that the athlete has a smiliar gift for his feet. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of players in the NFL or MLB, who are considered mediocre, were indeed far more talented for football and could outshine the stars in their present sport if they all had learned football instead. There is no lack of great athletes in America, but their ranking could be quite different in a football-centric environment. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/23 "2010-07-06T18:50:46Z")
Just wanted to chime in to those who call Wide Receivers and Secondary players sprinters without the necessary endurance-- you _have_ watched football, haven’t you? _They run routes on every down_, not just the ones where the ball is thrown to them. Sure, there’s that pause in between downs, but soccer is full of that, too-- nobody is running flat-out all the time, or even much of the time (for a game that defenders say has no time outs, there’s nearly as much standing around in soccer as in football). Of course, that’s no guarantee that their footwork would match their speed and endurance. But they’re great athletes, among the best (alas, generally not among the smartest… then again, soccer is about the least complex sport on Earth). ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/24 "2010-07-06T19:16:15Z")
Football: Cornerbacks and running backs. Basketball: Point guards or smaller shooting guards Baseball: File not found ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/25 "2010-07-06T20:15:36Z")
Larry Fishwick, Horace Mullaney and Chet Thurber. Never heard of them? They were guys who spent their childhoods and adolescence working on baseball, football and basketball skills. They were excellent athletes, who were good enough at those sports to reach very high levels – AAA baseball, IA football/basketball. They ran 4.5 40s, had natural endurance and terrifically dexterous feet. Had they spent ten years working on soccer, instead of learning to hit a curveball or run a slant pattern, they’d have been great; much better than at the sports they did end up play. But since they never saw it on TV, and their friends didn’t play it, and the chicks weren’t impressed by soccer players, they never gave it a thought. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/26 "2010-07-06T20:36:35Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Ochocinco is a big soccer fan, btw and is friends with Drogba. Chad is actually a pretty damn good soccer player but you don’t hear much about it. He can also kick the shit out of a football. When Shayne Graham, the Bengals kicker, went out of a game with an injury, Chad was called upon to kick an extra point right before halftime and also kicked off the ball in the ensuing half and did a great job. He’s also a good size for soccer, and fast as hell. About 6’0", 185lbs…he may even be a better personality fit for that sport! ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DqeNWFeMqPU/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqeNWFeMqPU?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque Here’s the video of Chad kicking: ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/27 "2010-07-06T20:40:26Z")
I think that Walter Payton would have made a good soccer player. He had incredible endurance, as well as speed and moves, and quite strong for his size (he was listed as 5’10"/200lbs, but was likely smaller than that). He was also an incredible all-around athlete – he was the Bears’ emergency place-kicker, and legend has it that, in many years, he was actually better at it than the Bears’ official kicker, but the Bears’ coaches didn’t want to risk having their franchise player with his leg up in the air, waiting to get run into. He could also throw the ball fairly well, and played QB for the Bears in '84 (in a proto-Wildcat formation) when they had suffered several injuries to their QBs. Parenthetically, his son, Jarrett, who had a brief NFL career (and has also played in the CFL, NFL Europe, and indoor football) was an all-state soccer player in high school. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/28 "2010-07-07T21:59:34Z")
> [@MD12](#): > > Baseball: File not found Oh bullshit. If you don’t think it take great athleticism to play shortstop, second base or centerfield then you’re out of your mind. As a Cleveland Indians fan I’m quite certain that ex-Indians Omar Vizquel (SS) and Kenny Lofton (CF) would’ve been great soccer players if they’d put their mind to it. This is from an old USA Today article about Vizquel: [Link](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-06-24-2715125888_x.htm) > [@](#): > > Watching him field grounders during batting practice or between innings became a daily ritual. Occasionally, Vizquel would incorporate his soccer skills and use his foot to flip an oncoming ball into the air, grab it and throw to first. An infield artist. > > “I’ll never forget the first fungo I hit to him,” Eric Wedge said, recalling his first spring training as Indians manager in 2003. "He told me where he wanted it, came in and scooped it with his glove - then did a complete somersault and threw the ball and glove to first base, right on the money. I guess just because he could. > > “I just looked at him and thought, 'That’s my shortstop!”’ ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/29 "2010-07-07T23:08:07Z")
> [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](#): > > In the NBA, Allen Iverson and LeBron James are probably at the top of my list. I can’t see why Kobe’s skills couldn’t translate to soccer either (can one player dominate a field in soccer like one can in basketball?) Yes and no. Positioning is much more of an issue in soccer, so while you could and do certainly have excellent defenders, or excellent midfielders etc. you won’t get one person who can be relied upon to dominate the entire pitch (it would be very risky, anyway). OTOH, some of the greatest players in the world are those who can take on more than one role and are an effective player even without the ball no matter what the situation, even if all that means is creating chances for other players to do _their_ thing. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/30 "2010-07-07T23:45:38Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > Oh bullshit. If you don’t think it take great athleticism to play shortstop, second base or centerfield then you’re out of your mind. As a Cleveland Indians fan I’m quite certain that ex-Indians Omar Vizquel (SS) and Kenny Lofton (CF) would’ve been great soccer players if they’d put their mind to it. > > This is from an old USA Today article about Vizquel: [Link](http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-06-24-2715125888_x.htm) Easy, tiger! It was a cheap shot at baseball players, most of whom do not possess the quick feet or endurance to play soccer. Obviously there are exceptions to that. ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/31 "2010-07-08T12:39:10Z")
I agree with **Wintertime** that atlethicism is definately a pro, but the order of stars would be different. I know there are multiple football (see user name) players that are very good at other ball sports; Forlan of Uruguay could appearantly also have been a pro tennis player and Goran Ivanisevic actually playes pro football in Croatia (after becoming famous, so it might have been a Jordan-White Sox thing). General athlethicism is always a pro, but to become the absolute best, you have tow work hard and have the specific talent. I’m sure most of the NBA players are good athletes but there is just one Lebron James…just as there is just one Messi. there is no way of knowing which of the current american pros would be best with his feet. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366/32 "2010-07-08T17:31:39Z")
> [@MD12](#): > > Easy, tiger! It was a cheap shot at baseball players, most of whom do not possess the quick feet or endurance to play soccer. Obviously there are exceptions to that. Many, many exceptions. I happen to resent cheap shots at baseball players. Let’s see one of those soccer players hit a 98 mph fastball with his feet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-soccer-was-americas-1-sport-whod-be-our-best-players/545366.md?page=1)