What if LeBron James played football?

Well, he did. At St. Vincent – St. Mary’s High School in Akron, Ohio. King James only played through his junior year. At the High School level LeBron was good for 15 touchdowns and over a thousand receiving yards.

What if he quit basketball instead of football?

Let’s break it down.

So LeBron goes for 15 TDs and a grand receiving in his senior year in 2003, when he was 18 going on 19.

He can’t go pro though. Part of the reason he choose basketball, the NFL has a rule that one must be three years removed from high school to be draft eligible.

Probably coaxed to Ohio State, because they’re good and in-state.

Freshman year LeBron would’ve been catching balls from Justin Zwick and/or Troy Smith. And compete for throws with the likes of speedster Ted Ginn, Jr. and 2009 Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes (the guy who caught the winning touchdown in this year’s Super Bowl). With star running back Maurice Clarett suspended for various acts of thuggery, the offensive load would have fallen on Zwick/Smith and the star-studded receiving core.

The 2005 season would’ve been really interesting to see. Troy Smith, who would win the Heisman the following year, throwing it up to LeBron and deep to Ginn or Holmes.

In Smith’s Heisman year, 2006, the Buckeyes made it to the BCS Championship game on January 8th, 2007. There they were handed a 41-14 beat-down by the Florida Gators. Perhaps not, with King James.

LeBron then enters the 2007 NFL draft as an all-everything wide receiver prospect. I say LeBron goes with the #2 pick to the Detroit “winless” Lions or #3 to the hometown Browns.

I know you’ve seen the commercial. You know the one, with the terribly catchy “feelin’ kinda Sunday” song in the background and LeBron in full Browns gear blocking kicks and such. That could have been a reality.

The thing is that both the Browns and the Lions were bad at the time (hence the high draft pick) and still are bad, if not worse now (having the 5th and 1st picks respectively in the upcoming 2009 NFL draft). So it’s hard to imagine exactly what “wide receiver LeBron”‘s short career would be like so far.

With his 6′ 8″, 250 pound frame, blazing speed, and almost capable of flight hops, the sky would be the limit. Barring injury LeBron James could be on his way to a Hall of Fame football career.

Hypothetically speaking, he could have been a National Champion and one of the best NFL receivers, if not players, of all time.

In reality, he is only the heir to Kobe Bryant’s throne of Best Basketball Player in the NBA (world). No big deal.

But one is left to wonder what LeBron James would look like going after a jump ball in the corner of the endzone. It’s probably similar to the insane dunks he throws down with authority, and blocks he makes with utter disrespect for both gravity, and other people. Keep up the good work King James.