It’s not every day you hear about NFL teams scouting basketball players, especially basketball players who have never touched a football field in their life.
But for former Miami Hurricane forward, Erik Swoope, it’s a different story. The 6-foot 5-inch California native signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent back in May with the possibility of making the team’s practice squad to be molded into a prospective tight end.
According to Yahoo Sports:
Miami basketball coach Jim Larranaga informed Swoope that someone from the Denver Broncoshad left a voicemail asking whether the senior had interest in scheduling a workout before the NFL draft. Swoope had never played organized football at any level before, but the Broncos believed his 6-foot-5 frame, explosive athleticism and aptitude for learning gave him a chance to make the same transition from undersized power forward to NFL tight end that stars Antonio Gates and Jimmy Graham once did.
“I was completely shocked,” Swoope said. “That was about the last thing I expected Coach L to tell me. Once I figured out this was real and that he wasn’t kidding, I was really excited. I took a week to think about it but then I decided I wanted to see what they had in mind.”
So far, Swoope has been pleasantly surprising the Colts organization with his athletic skills. Here’s the 411 on the former Hurricane hooper.
Swoope’s only experience playing football before this unlikely opportunity came as a young boy playing two-hand touch with his friends outside his home back in California.
Swoope played as a forward for the Miami Hurricanes basketball team all four years, and was part of the 2013 ACC Championship team — helping win the title after a 13-year drought.
At the end of Swoope’s senior season with the Hurricanes, he totaled 154 points, 85 rebounds, 16 assists, 11 blocks, and 11 steals.
Several other NFL organizations, such as the Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers, along with the Colts organization, expressed their interest in Swoope as a potential tight end player.
The former Hurricane is often compared to another UMiami alum, Jimmy Graham, who made the same transition from the basketball court to the field. Swoope was even lucky enough to get some pointers from the NFL vet.
We have a feeling this is the first of many times we’ll be hearing about the dual athlete. And we’re not mad about that.
SOURCE: Yahoo Sports | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
