Rajon Rondo hauls in the deep ball in Bristol as his summer media tour continues
We've all been there — you're hanging out with some dudes and you've got some time to kill, so you start throwing the football around. Apparently, when you've got some time to kill at ESPN's Bristol, Conn., megaplex, you do it on one of the actual football fields they have on-site, and when you're Rajon Rondo, you Moss dudes. Of course he did; like 50 Cent in his heyday, when Rondo sets out to destroy, he endeavors to destroy completely.
On the plus side, the dreadlocked defensive back isn't the first defender to be put on a poster once Rondo's gone vertical. Chris Bosh knows how the DB feels all too well. It's not like we needed another reminder that Rondo can get up after that sick box jump video dropped last month, but one can never have too many signposts of his athletic dominance, I suppose. We hope that Rajon cherishes this one.
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The Boston Celtics point guard was reportedly in Bristol to film a part in an upcoming ESPN commercial, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that I can't wait to see a ponytailed Rondo eating Chinese takeout and listening to metal.
The shoot continues an offseason media tour that's seen Rondo:
• Trek across Asia to host skill development clinics and promote Red Bull's King of the Rock tournament;
• Intern at GQ during New York Fashion Week;
• Tell Bleacher Report's Ethan Sherwood Strauss that his favorite kind of pass to throw is an absurdly difficult "cross-court one-hand bounce-pass between the defense [with] a little English on the ball ... between two, three guys that are trying to run extremely hard to the paint" to Paul Pierce for a wing 3-pointer (naturally);
• And blithely dismiss a question on BET's "106 and Park" about whether he's spoken to Ray Allen since his estranged former teammate became a member of the Miami Heat in free agency ("Oh, that guy ... I talk to the Lord").
So, y'know, a pretty Rajon Rondo offseason, by all accounts. Very much in step with what you might expect from one of the 10 coolest players in the NBA.
It's not altogether surprising that Rondo chose to while away a few minutes chucking around the old pigskin — after all, he's been known to have a catch with the likes of Celtics general manager Danny Ainge at practice in the past, and he played quarterback at Eastern High School in Louisville before deciding to focus on basketball. Rondo said he chatted with New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick about making the switch back to the gridiron if the NBA lockout hadn't resolved itself last fall, but luckily for all of us, we did wind up getting an NBA season, rendering that chatter moot. (I'm pretty sure the Pats are all set at quarterback and receiver these days, anyway, and I don't think the 6-foot-1, 170-pound Rondo would be too eager to tackle, although referee Marc Davis might disagree.)
During a recent interview with the South China Morning Post (via ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg), Rondo said he thinks running point on the basketball court is the same as running things from under center on the football field:
"I didn't watch a lot of NBA games growing up," he says. "I watched the Green Bay Packers. I always had dreams of being an NFL player. I was a high school quarterback and I really think that has helped me become a leader on the basketball court. They are pretty much the same position.
"The quarterback is the guy who calls all the plays and gets all the attention and the same with the point guard in basketball. You have to hit the open man."
And, of course, you have to be able to take the shotgun snap.
While I already knew that Rondo had massive hands, I didn't know he had big-time receiver mitts. Apparently, though, he's no stranger to the JUGS machine:
Suddenly, all those steals — Rondo finished top 10 in the league in total steals in each of his first five NBA seasons, leading the league during the 2009-10 season — make an awful lot of sense.
Hat-tip to Beyond the Buzzer.
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