??? How do you see what I said as a statement FOR football in this debate? My examples show just the opposite...great NFL players that though played college basketball were never considered NBA or serious prospects. In other words, didn't excell at basketball, but did at football. They needed MORE than they had to play in the NBA, but what they had was good enough to more than excel in the NFL. I think that shows athleticly/skill wise which is tougher, at least in those examples.

 

I am separating athletic and skill. If skills is part of determining the best athletes, then football goes to the bottom of the list as I see basketball and baseball requiring much more skill than football. My lists look like this:

 

Pure Ahtleticism (speed, strength, size):

 

1. Football

2. Basketball

3. Baseball

 

Athleticism plus skill required:

 

1. Baseball

2. Basketball

3. Football

Part of the reason people like Gates end up in the NFL instead of NBA has to do with height. They are the guys that are considered a couple of inches too short for the position they would play. I also think people are a little off about how athletic OL/DL are on the NFL level. You would be very surprised by how athletic those guys truly are. Peppers focus was football so that is where he spent his time. Basketball was a side project so he wasn't putting in the time.

 

As far as a kid being able to just pick up football or start later I think there is some misconceptions there. There is a MASSIVE difference from playing football with friends and as a sport. There is of course a difference between park basketball and basketball as a sport but that gap is much smaller. Kids that start football late have a number of things to over come. The biggest is they have no clue just how violent the game truly is. It takes kids a good 2 years or so to get going.

 

I think it would help if people stated also which sports they have played. Also soccer players are extremely good athletes. If you think hand eye cordination is tough try it with feet.

Really most of these sports, while having some overlapping skill sets, each require some unique skills that just don't translate to other sports. I've seen a ton of great athletes that can't catch a fly ball, or break a pane of glass with a baseball. How do you compare shooting or dribbling a basketball with with the ability to make a tackle or hit a hole. I personally think baseball is the toughest sport to play.hitting, throwing and fielding are tough to do without years of practice. But you don't necessarily need to be a great athlete to be good at at it (although it really helps). I think football is the most cerebral (tons of adjustments and reads to make all while the opposing team is trying to confuse and beat the heck out of you) and being a great athlete while necessary, doesn't guarantee success. It's also the most physically demanding. Basketball is tough to be elite at, but really I think is the easiest of the three to be competitive at. There are tons of guys with good game playing in gyms every night. It's easy to find competitive basketball games at any age and there are plenty of people that do it well. Not so much with baseball or football. Football is too dangerous and requires a huge time and space commitment to play casually. And there just aren't enough good baseball players to fill competitive adult teams.....the quality of most adult baseball leagues is dreadful. And I'm sorry, softball don't count.

Kyle Wiltjer????

 

He is 6'9 and shoots the 3 extremely well so he doesnt have to be Athletic.

A majority of offensive linemen cannot play basketball more than 5 trips up and down a full court, skills excluded. Any basketball player can step on the football field and perform.

 

Not exactly

Hockey might can join the debate, but I would still say it comes behind basketball. Soccer? Not even close. Not saying it isn't a tough sport and takes certian skills...but no where close to basketball in this discussion.

 

I'm with The big man. Ive seen some kids that lack a lot of athleticism play soccer. I'd have to cast my vote for basketball as the sports that requires the most athleticism. VOR lists some valid rankings.