Not long ago, a video of American rugby player Metcalfe jumping receive the ball was wildly spread. In the video, Metcalfe’s take-off height is shocking. Although the video has been proved to have undergone special technical treatment, Metcalfe’s physical quality can still be seen. Since then, in the celebrity competition of NBA All-Star Weekend, Metcalfe, who was invited to participate in the competition, finished many dunks and won the MVP with an outstanding performance of 20 points and 9 rebounds. In the United States, there are not a few players like Metcalfe who can play basketball and are good at rugby. Some people think that many basketball players choose basketball because they cannot stand in gridiron. So, is that true?
Qiang ruzhan Huang was also a good football player.
Today’s NBA top-ranking LeBlanc James was an excellent rugby player in high school. Emperor Zhan, who studied at St. Mary’s High School, was elected the best wide receiver in Ohio twice, showing incredible receive the ball ability and physical quality. At that time, he was playing basketball at the same time. After the end of the senior three season, James decided to give up his football career and focus on basketball. “If my high school team had a better quarterback, I might continue playing football.” This is one of the reasons he gave.
Of course, James’s choice is also related to his tendency towards basketball. Because of his wrist fracture, he missed the football match in the fourth season of senior high school. After that, in order to ensure the continuation of his basketball career, he no longer played football. Entering NBA was James’s goal all the time. Therefore, despite his outstanding performance in rugby, he finally walked firmly on the basketball court.
However, in 2011, James, who was 27 years old at that time, still received an invitation from the NFL team. Because NBA was in a shutdown, James was faced with a situation where there was no ball to play. The managers of the two NFL teams sent him a contract. James was once excited and recalled the years when he was young. However, the suspension of NBA ended soon and James failed to hold hands with NFL. He left the jerseys of the two teams as a memorial and said confidently: “If I took part in the team’s trial training, will definitely be signed.”
James gave up rugby and chose basketball, and finally achieved success. Some players switched to rugby with the basketball court. Jimmy Graham played only one season of rugby in four years of college. More often, he was a basketball player in Miami. But in the NFL draft, he was taken off by the Saints in the third round. His excellent physical condition made Graham play well in rugby.
Football players such as Tony gonzares and Julius Thomas were also basketball masters in college. Because there are many similarities between rugby and basketball, players who turn from basketball to rugby have a certain probability of success, and vice versa.
Rugby and basketball have their own advantages
In the United States, rugby is a more popular sport than basketball. The annual NFL Super Bowl is spectacular, so some people call it “American Spring Festival Gala”. A foreign media report at the end of last year pointed out that NFL’s single season income could reach 14 billion dollars. At the same time, NBA’s total income was only 7.4 billion dollars, almost half of NFL’s. In terms of sponsorship, NFL received 1.32 billion dollars in sponsorship revenue in 2017-18, while NBA earned 1.12 billion dollars, which is still a little better in rugby. The income brought by a Super Bowl, the NBA Finals and MLB (Major League Baseball) finals add up to more.
In terms of overall income, it is indeed NFL that has the upper hand. However, NBA also has its own advantages. The number of players in an NFL team is as high as 53, while the NBA team has only 12 to 15 players. In terms of the total number of players, there are only 450 in NBA and more than 1600 in NFL. Therefore, although NFL makes more profits in the total income, when it is specifically allocated to each player, the number of NBA players participating in the share is smaller. Therefore, top basketball players can earn higher income than rugby players.
In addition, in terms of internationalization, NBA has done better than NFL, which is clearly visible. In many parts of the world, Kobe, James and Curry are idols in the hearts of teenagers, however, football fans are more concentrated in the United States. Therefore, NBA is more likely to gain popularity and attention from overseas, while the internationalization level of NFL still needs to be improved.
However, in terms of audience rating, at present, NFL audience rating still has a relatively large advantage compared with NBA. However, it should be noted that in recent years, the rating of NFL has continued to decline, while the NBA has risen rapidly. Therefore, in the future, NBA will not rule out the possibility of exceeding NFL in ratings. After all, eyes from all over the world are paying attention to NBA, while NFL is still too small at present.
So, can you really choose to play basketball if you can’t eat the bowl of rugby in America? There is no absolute right or wrong answer to this question. For example, James took Entering NBA as his goal from the very beginning. Although he played football well, he still chose basketball. Yogueta chose rugby at the beginning. With his super physical quality, maybe you can also do something. As can be seen from the income, as long as you become the top player, no matter which sport you choose, the income will be very considerable.
At the same time, in recent years, basketball is rising at a faster speed, and it is very likely to surpass rugby in the future and become the most popular sport in the United States. However, who comes first and who comes second is actually not the most important. In the United States, whether it is rugby, basketball, football or volleyball, almost any sports event will pour into a large number of audiences. Even high school students will have a certain popularity in the local area. Such a sports atmosphere in which the whole people participate is an important reason for the strength of American competitive sports.
(Supine support/Yin Chongzeng)