“Yeah, yeah, I still got the itch to play. I got the itch, man.” LeBron James still adores football. While the hoops ultimately became his chosen path, the unbelievably fit athlete also pursued the other popular sport in high school. It wasn’t just a simple hobby- he became the No. 1 football prospect in Ohio within two seasons! Local reports referred to him as a “taller, slower version of Randy Moss.” While pre-existing circumstances prevented Bron from taking his standard to the NFL level, many still remember his good ol’ days.

Earlier today, a report by ‘CantonRep’ revealed a surprise nominee for the National High School Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025: LeBron James himself! It has been almost 23 years since the NBA’s top scorer played his last competitive football game. However, he has been picked alongside 64 other individuals, out of which 15 will ultimately be honored through the induction.

By all means, LeBron James played good football in high school. In the two years that he played, he recorded a total of 103 catches, ran a total of 2065 yards, and racked up 23 receiving touchdowns. The ability to average over 20 yards per reception came from a familiar attribute. The then 6’8″, 232 lbs athlete’s technique to outjump people and make tacklers miss him.

If LeBron had devoted just two more years, he could’ve recorded at least 46 touchdowns. This would’ve tied for the seventh-most made in the history of the St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. His prowess on the football field wasn’t overlooked by college recruiters, as he ended up receiving major offers from D1 universities like Alabama, Miami, Ohio State, and Notre Dame.

However, fate had other things written, and LeBron James transitioned from a wide receiver to a small forward on the basketball court. Fans wouldn’t get to know the real reason behind the transition until 23 years later when he appeared on The Shop podcast. He revealed, “My best friends told me if I play football, another down is going to whoop my a– every day at school. And my mama was like, ‘That’s it. That’s it.’ My mama saw the vision, she’s like ‘Boy, we in the slums boy. I love coming to football games, but we one year removed from going to the draft. So stop playing this.’”

Despite revealing that his mom was in the back of the same room where the interview was taking place, he put out a major secret by revealing, “She wanted to stop me in my junior year. I snuck and played my junior year, and didn’t tell her for the first two weeks of the junior season.” Given that LeBron James has now taken Gloria out of the slums by becoming the first active billionaire in NBA history, she wouldn’t have anything to complain about now.

To get his name into the Hall of Fame, Bron’s record will have to compete against the likes of legends like Leroy Kelly, Deion Sanders, Joe Namath, Ray Lewis, etc. Surprisingly, his record will also be compared against former high school player and coach Tim Walz, who is making waves as Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential pick for the 2024 Presidential Elections. Fortunately, along with the recorded stats, the Lakers player also carries some extra ‘receipts’ to prove just how greatly he dominated in high school.

Months after asking fans to “find the rest of the tapes”, LeBron James’ football talents were uplifted by a former teammate
Back in May, LeBron James’s former teammate Matt McDonald gave a first-hand account of playing alongside the NBA star. Taking up the quarterback position for himself, he and another teammate, Willie McGee, knew that if all else failed, they could depend on Bron himself. “You look around the field, and it doesn’t matter if he’s double-covered. It doesn’t matter if he’s triple-covered. That’s where the ball is going,” Matt McDonald unhesitantly declared.

This praise came a couple of months after King James came across an archived clip published by ‘uninterrupted’ on Instagram. The forward could be seen running routes and catching a touchdown in the clip. Highlighting it on his Instagram story, the hooper wrote, “We need to find the rest of the tapes.” With a Hall of Fame record at stake now, finding these clips is more important than ever!