Warren Sapp scoffs at notion of LeBron in NFL

The notion of Miami Heat star LeBron James playing in the NFL -- especially as the NBA's lockout drags on -- has been floated several times, including by LeBron himself.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll even had a Seattle jersey with LeBron's name on it made up last month.

But could the 6-8, 250-pound James survive, or perhaps thrive, against the NFL's even bigger bodies? After all, many former college power forwards -- Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham -- have morphed into elite tight ends.

"He's a tremendous athlete, probably the best physical specimen you'll see in sports," former NBA star Jalen Rose said of King James while serving as a guest panelist on NFL Network's No Huddle on Wednesday night.

"The one thing about football -- you can go up for the football -- I don't think his feet'll hit the ground on the way down because they will take him out. I think that game is too physical, I think it's too demanding, I think that it's hard to block defensive ends -- it's more to that job of being a tight end than just running routes."

Fellow analyst Warren Sapp said James would also be a marked man in the NFL.

"How about LeBron do one-sixth of what (Michael) Jordan did, let's see him go win a championship," Sapp said.

"Go do that. Go see if you can conquer your sport before you come over here because them boys on defense, we like pretty boys like that. We want to split them."

Though James, who played football in high school, can certainly catch, run and would be an intriguing red-zone target, Sapp and Rose questioned his ability to block in the run game and if he could cope with the game's inherent contact.

But he would have something going for him.

"I know one thing, it'd be hard to get a hit to the head on him," said former NFL coach Jim Mora.

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(usatoday.com)