Two Sport Athlete?

Imagine this.

You're the Arizona Cardinals and you are one of the worst professional sports franchises of all time. It's a franchise who can stake their claim to more hometowns than championships (I've heard 1947 was a good year, though). That's right, the loveable losers known as the "Cardinals" have been known as the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cardinals, Racine Cardinals, the Normals (the name of the field they played on), and the Morgan Athletic Club (apparently the M.A.C. has a strict "no bird" policy). For the complete history of the Cardinals, go here: http://www.azcardinals.com/history/index.php

Anyway, imagine the sense of accomplishment that comes with reaching the Super Bowl & being the NFC Champions. As much praise as the Cardinals' D has gotten over the past few weeks, we all know that their bread & butter is the offense. Larry Fitzgerald is arguably the best WR in the league and Anquan Boldin isn't too shabby either. Throw in Steve Breaston and you've got one of the best trios of WR in the league.

So, by this time you're probably pissed that you've read a bunch of crap about the Arizona Cardinals and wondering what the hell a two-sport athlete has to do with any of this? (It's ok, I realize you already forgot the title of the post too).

Can you imagine if Arizona and their potent offense had a guy like their hometown basketball team Amare Stoudemire? I'm not talking about putting Amare on offense or defense. The Suns (or whoever he'll play for in the future) would never allow that to happen. Too high of an injury risk. But what's wrong with letting Amare get a chance to block field goals & extra points?

What's wrong with Miami signing Dwight Howard to a 1-year contract to see how many he can block for the 'Fins? Howard is a 6'11'' 265 pound athlete who can almost touch the top of the backboard. There's no doubt in my mind that he can jump up just behind the line of scrimmage and block a 45+ yard field goal.

How about Kevin Garnett blocking kicks for the Pats? I could go on for days.

And the best part is that it's a win-win situation. The player can get the chance of a lifetime experience by playing a few games in the NFL. His chances of getting hurt would be very limited because he'd play exclusively on field goals & extra points. And the team benefits because he's only taking up 1 of 53 roster spots. What is there to lose?

Think about how many games, particularly in the playoffs, when the game boils down to a field goal. How much would you love to see Amare spike the game winning FG back to Jeff Reed on Sunday? I know I'd love it.

It could revolutionize the game.