Titans’ T’Vondre Sweat: NBA Players Too Soft for NFL

Tennessee Titans T'Vondre Swift gives opinion NBA players in NFL conversation.

Tennessee Titans second-rounder T'Vondre Sweat participates in rookie minicamp at Ascension Saint / Denny Simmons / The Tennessean / USA

NASHVILLE — T'Vondre Sweat, a rookie yet to debut in the National Football League, does not shy away from expressing his strong opinions on the ongoing debate about NBA players transitioning to the NFL. 

Sweat has a perspective because he played high school basketball and football in Huntsville, Texas, before focusing on football at the University of Texas. 

He revealed that he can still dunk a basketball, which says a lot about his athleticism at 366 pounds. Sweat then made it clear he doesn't believe basketball players would easily make it work in the NFL. 

"Basketball players can't play in the NFL," Sweat said. "They're too soft."

Former NBA player Austin Rivers sparked a conversation when he stated that he thinks 30 current NBA players have the potential to play in the NFL, whereas the opposite would not be accurate. 

Is Sweat right? Let's explore

Charlie Ward won a Heisman Trophy as the Florida State University quarterback but didn't get a shot in the NFL. Ward was ahead of his time as a dual-threat quarterback and in hindsight should've been in the league. However, he also played college basketball for Noles and went on to a successful NBA career mostly with the New York Knicks.

Examples like Ward are rarer than basketball players making the switch to the NFL. Julius Peppers, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, and Tony Gonzalez all had successful NFL careers after playing basketball in college.

Gonzalez and Peppers both made it to the NFL Hall of Fame despite being average college basketball players at Cal and UNC, respectively.

Gates didn't play college football, but he still had an impressive career in the NFL that will likely earn him a place in the hall. Similarly, Graham didn't play football at the University of Miami and only averaged 4.2 points per game on the basketball court during his four seasons with the Canes. However, some observers believe that his NFL career is significant enough to merit consideration for the Hall of Fame.

Sweat's argument about the physical demands of football is valid. However, the skill level required for basketball, particularly in today's NBA, makes it more difficult for a football player to switch to basketball than vice versa.

Ultimately the conversation is all fun and games for Sweat, who's trying to carve out what he hopes is a long NFL career.

"I could play good at 366," Sweat said when asked about his playing weight after the NFL Draft. "My coach told me, Coach Bo (Davis), this past season said, “Yeah you played great but you could have played better at 355 or 350,” so I’m just going to try to chop it down day-by-day to get to that and if I go to 355 or 350, most likely I’m going to be a Hall of Famer."

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