Which out-of-work athlete would you like to see on the gridiron?

With Monte Harrison trying out football, who do you think could make the transition to football?

In honor of Monte Harrison, a former Milwaukee Brewers prospect who is returning to college football as a 29-year-old freshman wide receiver, we wanted to have a little bit of fun with this one. This was the prompt we asked the Acme Packing Company crew: Which out-of-work athlete would you like to see on the gridiron?

Here are the responses:

Justis

Mike Tyson and Jon “Bones” Jones

Jon hardly fights anymore and I want to see if he’s the better athlete in his family, considering pass-rusher Chandler Jones is his brother. Tyson is 57 years old, but if he’s willing to have a professional fight at that age I’m sure he play on a pitch count on the field. Tyson technically has college eligibility if he wants to use it. Take that as a warning, junior college coaches.

Tyler

Usain Bolt

You can’t tell me it wouldn’t be sick to watch Bolt try to haul in balls off go routes

James Harrison

I don’t care how old he gets. James Harrison could still play football until the day he dies.

Jon

Dwayne Johnson and Brock Lesnar

Before he was The Rock, Dwayne Johnson was an okay football player, first for the University of Miami and then, briefly in the CFL. Injuries drove him from the sport, but things seem to have worked out for him since then. Brock Lesnar has a similar story, though he was a wrestler first before a short stint with the Minnesota Vikings.

I want to see both return to football, if only because of the pearl clutching it would cause among a certain set of football reporters. People got very angry with Tim Tebow’s unretirement with the Jacksonville Jaguars a couple of years ago. Imagine if there was an actual sideshow going on in NFL camps featuring two professional entertainers.

Paul

Bubba Starling

The now 31-year-old Starling was once the number one high school baseball recruit in the nation, and early in his professional career in the minor league system of the Kansas City Royals, he was frequently touted as the number one prospect in baseball. Starling was a raw, five-tool prospect who just needed to develop the bat, but it’s extremely difficult to hit a baseball, and the bat just never came around as injuries disrupted his development timeline.

But the reason Starling was so highly touted in the first place was due to his incredible athletic profile, and while he made decent bank for his time in baseball, there’s a good argument to be made that he should have played football. He was the 6th ranked quarterback prospect in his class, and he received several football scholarship offers, including an offer to play both football and baseball at Nebraska. Starling is 6-4, 220 pounds, with a plus arm, and incredible speed for a big man. Every scouting report written about him pre-draft cited his incredible work ethic, but potential issues due to splitting his attention between football and baseball. If anyone could walk onto a college team and instantly excel at quarterback, it’s Starlng.

Billy Hamilton

Billy Hamilton is, quite simply, one of the fastest people ever to play anything. While relatively small at just 6-0. 160 pounds, he was once a receiver recruit who signed a letter of intent with Mississippi State before deciding on baseball.

How fast was Hamilton? Hamilton was so fast that despite a career .239/.292/.325 batting line, and a terrible 66 OPS plus, he still put up 10 WAR for his career just based on base-running and defense. Hamilton tried to steal basically every time he was on base, and despite barely ever being on base, still managed to steal the third most bases of anyone in the 2010s. He holds the minor league record in single season steals with 155, ten more than second-place Vince Coleman.

Hamilton is 33 years old, but let’s see some creative college offense get the man the ball in space, or let him return punts.

Feel free to add your answers in the comment section. We’d love to see what you came up with.