The Falcons' Julio Jones a couple of days back told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Michael Cunningham that, with a little training, he could break 10 seconds in the 100-meter sprint. Teammate Robert Alford proclaimed that he still could slip back into track if he so desired and become an Olympian.
Of course, all that is just smoke and athletic conceit _ some talk to fill the grinding hours of training camp. Who among us, the typical American sports fans, could even imagine a fellow countryman giving up the glamorous, all-ESPN-all-the-time world of professional football for the niche business of track and field?
It is the American mindset, for better or worse, to cast everything in a football context. Especially this time of year, as the sport begins to swallow us whole.
So, really, the proper question is not which of our NFL stars could make it in the Olympics. It's which Olympians could make a better use of their time playing football?
You have to admit, watching Usain Bolt streak down the track, leaving the world behind with each magnificent stride, you said to yourself, "Man, if he had any hands at all they'd have to make him wear oven mitts to make it fair. Right there is the ultimate deep threat. Try to catch that, Josh Norman."
He was not the only one who I dressed in pads in my imagination. Here are a few others (I'm sure you stumbled on a few of your own over the long course of the Games, while filling the time during the rhythmic gymnastics competition):
