The other day, the NBA studio show, Inside the NBA, staged a dodge ball match. And, since Shaquille O’Neal has reportedly expressed some interest in supporting handball’s development in the U.S. it was fun to see him actually throw a handball sized ball around a bit. This video shows Shaq in action:
Shaq’s 49 years old now, though, so it was a bit hard to envision the theoretical dominant force I think he would have been if handball had been his chosen sport.
While searching for that video, this video of former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow playing dodgeball and drilling Shaq also popped up.
In my opinion, this video supports what has been discussed for 10 years now. That Tim Tebow would have been a phenomenal handball player. I know, I know…it’s just celebrity dodgeball, but you can still see it. He’s got the arm (lefty), the moves and the mentality of a handball player.
Alas, he continued to believe that he had a future as an NFL quarterback. Then he gave baseball a try. I had thought he had finally resigned himself to being just a football commentator, but earlier this year he announced that he was going to give the NFL a try yet again, this time as tight end.
This is yet more fuel to my theory that he could have been a great handball player. Why, in this commentary I posited that the the 2 best football positions to target for crossover potential to handball are tight ends and mobile quarterbacks. Now Tebow is actually taking a crack at an NFL career in both positions. (That’s got to be a first.) It remains to be seen if this latest venture will also end in failure. Now 33 years old, it’s too late for handball. And, it’s probably too late for tight end too.