Soccer star David Beckham reportedly had an opportunity to kick in the NFL. Unsurprisingly, he passed.
The U.K. Daily Mirror reports that an NFL scout contacted Beckham a few years ago to see if he would be interested in trying out as a kicker. The newspaper adds that “Their idea is not as ridiculous as it sounds because Beckham’s skill at bending in long range free kicks can be perfectly adapted to scoring field goals in the NFL.”
Actually, I’m going to go ahead and say that the idea is as ridiculous as it sounds: Why would any NFL team think Beckham would give up the sport he loves, the sport that has made him fabulously wealthy to the tune of an estimated income of $47 million a year, to try American football?
Perhaps if there’s an NFL franchise in London some day, that team would try to convert a popular English soccer player into a kicker as an attempt to drum up some fan support. But a gimmick like that doesn’t seem very likely to create long-lasting interest in American football.
And if there is an English soccer player who’s going to switch to American football, it’s not going to be David Beckham.
