Three NFL stars who also played college basketball

We live in an age of specialization, where kids are usually pointed in a direction that discourages playing multiple sports at a high level. With that being said, some of the NFL’s best players over the years had diverse backgrounds when it came to athletics when they were growing up.

We’re going to look at three Pro Football Hall of Famers who played big-time Division I college basketball as they were on the path to immortality in their football careers.

Antonio Gates

Gates was a force to be reckoned with in his prime with the San Diego Chargers, who moved to Los Angeles late in his career. He was a red zone machine, catching 116 touchdowns during his prolific 16-year NFL career. He had a knack for getting open and carving out space in smaller areas of the field, which can be compared to boxing players out in basketball.

That’s something Gates had a lot of experience doing in college basketball. In three seasons, he averaged nearly eight rebounds per game at Eastern Michigan and later at Kent State. It might surprise many people to learn that Gates was also a strong scorer, to the point where he averaged over 20 points per game in his senior season at Kent State. He scored points in the mid-range and closer to the rim, and he also had a knack for drawing fouls to get to the free-throw line.

Tony Gonzalez

Gonzalez played on a lot of teams favored in the NFL playoff odds, although he was never able to win a Super Bowl. Even though he never achieved the ultimate team goal in the NFL, Gonzalez was probably the first player to be lauded for his translatable basketball skills on the gridiron. He had an interesting road, as it was well documented that basketball was actually his first love.

During his heyday with the Kansas City Chiefs, Gonzalez was known to dunk the football over the goalpost after scoring touchdowns. Hoops were never too far from his heart, as analysts and fans alike knew how his quickness and agility in the middle of the football field could be attributed to the moves he used on the hardwood. Gonzalez had a solid basketball career at the University of California.

Julius Peppers

Peppers was a player who let his on-field production do the talking for him, and he certainly left his mark in that regard. He logged 159.5 sacks during his illustrious 17-year career and was virtually unstoppable when he was coming off the edge as a pass rusher. The 6’7”, 295-pound behemoth would be able to overpower or run right past many of the offensive tackles who were ill-equipped to slow him down.

Before he terrorized quarterbacks in the NFL, Peppers played for the University of North Carolina’s football and basketball teams. He was part of the Tar Heels’ March Madness run to the Final Four in the 1999-2000 season as a rotational piece off the bench.