According To LeBron, The Seattle Seahawks Made A Serious Push To Sign Him Back During The 2011 Lockout

Ronald Martinez. Getty Images.

Whenever the topic/debate of which current NBA players could play in the NFL and vice versa arises, it's pretty much a unanimous choice that, on the NBA side, the choice is LeBron James. Whether it's as a TE or a WR, given his size and athleticism I don't think it's a stretch to suggest LeBron would be pretty good if he decided to switch sports. Maybe not in his 40s, but definitely in his younger years. I tend to believe that the Miami Era LeBron would have been a matchup nightmare for NFL defenses. 

And while for the most part, this has been a dumb debate for the internet and for ESPN talking head shows

according to LeBron himself, this idea was actually presented to him by none other than Pete Carroll and the Seahawks

Now it should obviously be stated that when it comes to LeBron, he does have a bit of a habit of let's say…..bending the truth. Some (most) might call it straight-up lying

but you know what? I'm not ready to declare that he's lying about the Seahawks wanting him to join their team during the lockout. For the sake of accuracy, this was actually in the 2011-12 season not the 2010-11 season, but it happened in 2011 so that's an easy mix-up given it's been 14 years. 

At that time, LeBron was 26-27 years old, and would go on to win his 3rd MVP and 1st ever title. This was peak LeBron in my opinion (2011-13). There really wasn't a thing anyone could do with this version

so while the NBA was experiencing a lockout, it's not surprising that Pete Carroll put a call in. If LeBron had listed any other team, I'm not sure I would buy it, but I absolutely buy Carroll thinking outside of the box and taking a swing. Remember, the 2011 lockout went from June 30th to December, so the dates do line up with training camp.

Advertisement

I can understand why Carroll may have wanted LeBron, seeing as how that 2011 Seahawks team went 7-9 and missed the playoffs. They started the year 2-6, scoring 17, 0, 3, 12, and 13 points in 5 of those 6 losses. I'm no Jerry Thornton in terms of being a football guy, but I imagine adding an offensive weapon like Prime LeBron probably would have helped. I'm sure it would have made Tarvaris Jackson's life a whole lot easier that's for sure, and boy did he need it (3,091 passing yards, 14 TD and 13 INT).

In the end, I guess it's up to you whether or not you believe that story or if it's just another vintage LeBron lie. I'm choosing to believe it, and frankly he should have at least gone to camp. That would have been wild to see.