Knicks Legend Shuts Down NBA Players in NFL Debate

Patrick Ewing was destined to make an impact on New York sports one way or another. Fortunately for supporters of the blue football team, it was with the New York Knicks.

The end of the Knicks’ latest season has allowed current stars Jalen Brnson and Josh Hart to get involved in some of the hardwood-inspired debates they may have missed. One such storyline was last month’s accusation from former Knick Austin Rivers, who claimed that 30 active NBA players would be able to suit up in an the modern National Football League.

As the latest guest on Brunson and Hart’s “Roommates Show” podcast, Ewing firmly declared that he would not be one of them, much to the disappointment of Hart, who seemed ready to agree with Rivers’ assessment mae on “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“No, nor would I even try!” Ewing told his metropolitan successors.

Seeing Ewing in any uniform beyond his traditional blue and orange threads with the Knicks is hard enough, but the legendary big man nearly donned the jersey of a whole different sport entirely had fate not intervened.

Fresh off his collegiate career at Georgetown University, Ewing revealed that he was recruited not by the Washington Bullets but rather the NFL’s Washington Redskins when he was ready to make the professional leap.

“When I graduated from Georgetown, the Washington Redskins, at that time, wanted me to come try out for defensive end,” Ewing revealed to Brunson and Hart. “I’m like, ‘Are you crazy? I’m the No. 1 pick and you want me to come try out for football? Nah.’”

It’s not like the Redskins (now known as the Washington Commanders) truly required Ewing’s services at the time: the franchise won its first Super Bowl during Ewing’s sophomore season as a Hoya, downing the Miami Dolphins in the game’s 17th edition before crushing the Denver Broncos five years later.

Ewing’s hardwood heyday did see its share of dual-threat athletes and he was in fact teammates with one later in his career (Heisman Trophy winner-turned-Knicks reserve Charlie Ward). Knicks fans are likely grateful that Ewing was not destined to join the likes of Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, as he instead embarked on a Hall of Fame career spent primarily in Manhattan.

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