As Ballislife’s series exploring the connection between hoops and football comes to an end as the NFL season fully kicks off on Sunday, it’s only appropriate to tie up all of the loose ends and explore the careers of some legendary athletes who were deserving of a mention but didn’t fit on the other lists.
If you’ve missed the previous stories in this series, the first three are all available for free on Ballislife.com. From some names you’ve heard over and over again for the last few decades to players you might have followed 20 years ago and forgot, allow us to jog your memory.
Series Rundown: Part 1 and 2
In the first edition of the series, we explored the connection between college basketball and the NFL, especially through the tight end position. Players like Julius Peppers, Ronald Curry and Tony Gonzalez shined on the collegiate hardwood and on the NFL field, and you can’t forget Hall of Famer Antonio Gates who essentially defined the concept of basketball players taking over the tight end position. Shoutout to Jimmy Graham, too.
The second edition saw us explore the opposite, essentially highlighting the high school football careers of NBA stars who we believe could have made a legitimate impact at the FBS football level at least, but also potentially at the highest level in the NFL. Players like LeBron James and Allen Iverson were obviously mentioned, but did you know Matt Barnes was an All-American-level receiver at Sacramento’s Del Campo High before turning his attention fully to basketball?
Series Rundown: Part 3 and 4
The third edition dove into the career of one of the most unique athletes in history: Charlie Ward. He was a football player so good that he won the most prestigious award in the sport in 1993 as the recipient of the Heisman Trophy. You would think Ward took his talents to the NFL after his iconic college career, but he was also such a good basketball player at Florida State that he attempted to leverage his positioning as an NBA Draft prospect to improve his standing among NFL prospects that year. Did it work? Not quite, but you’ll have to read to find out why.
In this fourth and final edition, we mention the legendary Bud Grant, who is an athlete who stands alone in American history. Beyond that, we briefly explore the two-sport prowess of some of other athletes whose second sport may not have been on the football field or basketball court. We had to mention former MLB All-Star Dave Winfield and legendary NBA and ABA hooper and Hall of Famer George McGinnis, as well as the game-changing general manager and late Cowboys’ mastermind Gil Brandt.
The Legend of Bud Grant
The one athlete who was drafted and played professionally in both the NBA and NFL is the legendary Bud Grant, who did so over 70 years ago. Coming out of the University of Minnesota, Grant was selected 42nd overall by the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950 NBA draft and 14th by the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Draft that same year.
Grant eventually became most prominent for coaching the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances. He played two seasons in the NBA before moving to the NFL, becoming the NFL’s second leading receiver in his second season after switching over from the defensive side of the ball. Grant may not be as well known as a Bo Jackson or Danny Ainge, but he was as spectacular an athlete given the time period.
“Lucky 13” Combo Athletes
Grant remains the only NBA player we can uncover to ever be selected in both the NBA and NFL Draft in the same year, but there has been a handful of athletes who played baseball and football at the professional level, most notably Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. Jackson is probably the only Hall of Fame-level athlete in two pro sports, but his NFL career was cut short by a devastating injury in 1990.
Research shows there are 13 athletes to have played in the NBA and MLB. Those names are Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Bank Biasatti, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Cotton Nash, Ray Reed, Dick Ricketts and Howie Schultz.
Ainge stands out as a member of the 1980s Boston Celtics dynasty and because he played MLB with the Toronto Blue Jays. Many felt he was also an NFL prospect as a wide receiver at North Eugene (Eugene, Oregon), but he never played college football at BYU. DeBusschere is in the NBA Hall of Fame and threw a shutout for the Chicago White Sox vs. the Cleveland Indians in 1963.
Other Unique Athletes
Another athlete deserving of a mention is former MLB All-Star outfielder Dave Winfield, who played college basketball at the University of Minnesota and was the MVP of the 1973 College World Series as a pitcher. Winfield was so highly regarded as an athlete that he was selected in both the NBA and ABA drafts and in addition to being selected by the Minnes Vikings in the 17th round of the 1973 NFL Draft.
Another unique athlete is two-time Grid-Hoop National Player of the Year George McGinnis from Washington (Ind.). McGinnis went on to star in both ABA and NBA and was eventually voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his illustrious career on the hardwood. McGinnis was such a coveted athlete that the Dallas Cowboys later offered him a contract, despite having to tell 250 pursuing colleges that he would concentrate on basketball at Indiana as he was coming out of high school.
The Mastermind
Legendary Cowboys GM Gil Brandt was always looking for unconventional ways to make the Cowboys a better team and looked at other sports to help make the franchise “America’s Team”.
Brandt turned Olympic champion sprinter Bob Hayes into an NFL Hall of Fame wide receiver and turned high school All-American guard Cornell Green into a fine defensive back, even though he never played college football at Utah State. Green might have been good enough to play in the NBA, and there is little doubt McGinnis was good enough to play in the NFL.
