Brent Grimes is one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL, but according to he and his wife, Miko, in a recent Sports Illustrated profile, he considered hanging it all up for another sport: basketball.
Miko used to play college and professional basketball, and she’s not a fan of the NFL, so she almost convinced Brent—who she says is “really fucking good” at basketball—to make the jump.
In the off-season, though, Brent did consider retiring and trying out for the NBA’s developmental league—or, as Miko puts it, “going to a real league.” Says Brent, “The NFL doesn’t have a cool vibe. They make everyone look the same, with their shoes and socks the same way.” He says that whenever he does retire, he’ll join a bunch of rec basketball leagues, if not the newly branded G League, and he’ll never play any kind of football again.
A lot of this was probably just talk, but Grimes is right that the NFL can learn a lot from the NBA about letting players be individuals. But no matter how good Grimes might be at basketball, he’s probably far better at football—the sport he actually plays professionally.