Running Back
Wayne Rooney

I apologize for the long delay in the series, but I sensed that there wasn't an appropriate amount of tension built-up for the top 5, so I wanted to let it simmer a little bit. And now, with the tension palpable, I felt like it was time.

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney checks in at #4. I love his speed and toughness, but I don't know how to quantify that for you, other than to give you his FIFA '08 ratings. His sprint speed is 85, acceleration 88, agility 87, balance 91, and strength 92. Best of all, his aggression is 96.

He'd be small for a running back, yes, but I wouldn't be concerned at all about his ability to take a beating. Wayne strikes me as the kind of guy you could whack in the head with a wrench for about 45 minutes before he even noticed.

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions
#11: Yao Ming
#10: Cristiano Ronaldo
#9: Dion Phaneuf
#8: Grady Sizemore
#7: Allen Iverson
#6: Ricky Hatton
#5. Michael Phelps

Tuesday:
Non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #3

Wide Receiver
Michael Phelps

Okay, so swimmers aren't the big, rough, burly type. They are generally thin, wear just enough spandex to cover their junk, and are shaved from head to toe. When you think "intimidation," rarely will you think "swimmer."

I have no idea how Phelps's speed in the water would translate to grass. I don't know if he can take a hit. And I have no idea what those freakish, fake-looking back muscles would do for him on the gridiron.

But I can tell you that he's 6'4", 195 pounds, one of the most gifted athletes ever born, has an ungodly work ethic, has set 25 world records, and has been able to master three different strokes, all of which use different sets of muscles, to the point where he is one of the best, if not the best, in the world.

To me, that's the biggest thing. If he's mastered the freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke, then clearly, he's the kind of guy who can set his sights on anything and be great at it.

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions
#11: Yao Ming
#10: Cristiano Ronaldo
#9: Dion Phaneuf
#8: Grady Sizemore
#7: Allen Iverson
#6: Ricky Hatton

Tuesday:
Non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #4

Fullback
Ricky Hatton

We're going to need someone to put us in touch with Shawne Merriman's pharmacist, ASAP.

At 5'7", his height doesn't concern me. If he's small enough to get lost behind the offensive line and then come out of nowhere and crack someone in the teeth, all the better.

But his weight's a different story. We don't need the full Merriman treatment, maybe just a couple of cycles. Hatton fights at 147, but between fights, he's been known to put on 40 or 50 pounds. That, plus a month or so on the Merriman drug regimen really should be enough to get him at an acceptable fullback weight.

I want him at fullback for two reasons:

1) His "I'll gladly ram my head into a brick wall over and over again" mentality. He doesn't care about being a star, and he doesn't need to set any touchdown records. He's as blue-collar as blue-collar gets, and there aren't many dudes on earth tougher than Ricky Hatton.

2) I want him on offense, so when he does score the odd touchdown, we'll hear this. If there's one thing NFL fans don't do enough, it's sing in unison. And I swear, that's the catchiest damn thing I've ever heard. I was 100% rooting for Floyd Mayweather during that fight, but even I couldn't stop myself from belting out, "There's only OOOOOOOONE RICKY HATTON."

Quarterback/Safety/Kick Returner
Allen Iverson

Michael Vick, Aaron Brooks, and Allen Iverson all came out of the Newport News area in Virginia. You could argue that at the moment, Iverson has the best chance of any of them to be a successful NFL quarterback sometime in the future.

Iverson's size might be seen as questionable, but he's really only small by NBA standards. Stand him next to Carmelo Anthony and Marcus Camby, and he'll look short. Put some pads on him and stand him next to Champ Bailey and Rod Smith, and he'd look fine. His height is comparable to that of Joe Theismann or Fran Tarkenton, and he'd dwarf Doug Flutie or 4-time Pro Bowler Eddie LeBaron.

I file Iverson under the category of special athletes who could have been legendary at any sport they wanted. Football, basketball, soccer, hide-and-go-seek, Oreo-licking, whatever.

Free Safety
Grady Sizemore

Grady is, as the baseball folks like to say, a five-tool player. That means he has power, speed, tremendous eyesight, a torque wrench and a belt sander. And he's a pretty good baseball player, too.

He's 6'2", 200, so I like his size at the free safety position. He's got the speed to cover a lot of ground against the pass, as many Major League centerfielders would. But Sizemore also plays with a fearlessness and disregard for his own body that most centerfielders don't, and he brings some size and power to the table, too.

I could see him, on one play chasing down a Plaxico Burress, and then hurling himself into the path of a stampeding Edgerrin James or Frank Gore the next. At the very least, I could see him making Shaun Alexander curl up into the fetal position and start yelling, "I'M DOWN! I'M DOWN!"

And should the Browns be fortunate enough to share him with the Indians, he'd also bring Grady's Ladies with him to Cleveland Browns Stadium, which would be a welcome addition, as they're just a little more camera friendly than the Dawg Pound.

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions
#11: Yao Ming
#10: Cristiano Ronaldo
#9: Dion Phaneuf

Tuesday:
Non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #7

Strong Safety
Dion Phaneuf

Why? Because he does this:

And also because I think it would be funny to hear Terry Bradshaw say "Phaneuf."

At 6'3", 212, size is not an issue, and I think he's the kind of strong safety you'd want in the box quite a bit, making life miserable on running backs. And with Phaneuf out there, crossing routes by wide receivers might become a complete thing of the past.

The only problem is that Phaneuf might want to stay home and play for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian League. It is, after all, their league. He was born in the province of Alberta, plays professionally in Calgary, and probably could have been the best athlete on last year's 7-10-1 Stamps.

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions
#11: Yao Ming
#10: Cristiano Ronaldo

Monday:
Non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #8

Quarterback
Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano is going to be the most effeminate athlete on this list, and that's okay, because he'd likely be the most effeminate athlete on any list in which he appears. And besides, as long as his vacations still look like this, he probably doesn't mind.

And many of you, I'm sure, are giggling at the thought of Cristiano in the NFL, alongside the biggest, most brutish and merciless athletes in the world. I don't blame you. He's the most accomplished diver in sports, and makes Manu Ginobili look like Charles Oakley. I'd have included a YouTube video of some of his dives, but I can't find one that doesn't slur him in a way that would make women and/or homosexuals frown.

So he's not the manliest of men. Doesn't matter. He's still the best soccer player in the world at the moment, and as gifted an athlete as exists on the planet.

He sees the field (pitch, if you prefer) brilliantly, and is mind-blowingly creative. Anyone with his coordination, athleticism and creativity, had he set his mind to it at an early age, could've excelled at any sport he chose.

And with the way that some NFL officials call blows to the head of quarterbacks, his diving ability could be very effective, if not also infuriating.

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions
#11: Yao Ming

Tomorrow:
Non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #9

Special Teams/Kick Block Specialist
Yao Ming

On shorter field goals, you put Yao right behind your defensive tackles (to protect him from getting his legs cut from under him or having his chest caved in by an ill-tempered guard), have him stand on his tippy toes and try to get a paw on anything that comes past.

On long field goals, you put him at the back of the endzone to reach up and cherry pick anything that's going to barely clear the 10-foot crossbar.

At the very least, it creates doubt in the mind of an opposing kicker. A guy lines up to take the kick, and he sees Yao at the line of scrimmage standing straight up with his arms outstretched, and he might start to think about things. "I better get some more air under this one." "I might want to play a hook around the giant Chinese man." If Yao never even blocks a kick, there's value there.

I couldn't decide if I should go with Yao or someone like Josh Smith with a crazy vertical. Smith can probably ultimately get higher, but he's got to worry a little more about timing his jump. Yao provides a little more visual intimidation, too.

Now, I reely acknowledge this may not work, and I'm not the first to suggest it. In fact, I'm not completely comfortable with the company that puts me in, either. There's probably a very good reason (beyond wasting a roster spot on a guy who serves only this limited purpose) that no NFL coach has ever tried such an approach.

But it's worth a shot, right?

Previously:
The Honorable Mentions

Shutdown Corner is giddy to present its list of 11 non-NFL athletes who would have excelled in a career in professional football.

The world is filled with phenomenal athletes, and regrettably, many deserving ones will be left off this list. There are a lot of sports in the world. A lot of them, I don't watch. I'll happily admit that there are athletes in the worlds of rugby, cricket, bowling, bass fishing, and Turkish oil wrestling that deserved consideration, but didn't get it. I am limited by my own insular experiences as a sports fan.

Outside of that, there's only one rule. No kickers. If I included kickers, every spot would be filled by a soccer player with rippling quads. My apologies to those of you who love rippling quads.

Today, the Honorable Mentions.

Kick Returner: Floyd Mayweather Jr. I absolutely believe that Mayweather is one of the world's truly special athletes: quick, strong, arrogant and smart. But there's a problem with Money May, as it relates to the NFL. He's 5'8", and at that height, I don't know if he's playing anywhere except kick returner. And that's not necessarily a problem ... at least, it wouldn't be a problem if kick returners were paid like quarterbacks. They aren't, though. And the NFL isn't likely to tolerate a kick returner who holds out every year and demands to make more money than Peyton Manning.
Quarterback: Steve Nash Without question, Nash would excel in the areas of field vision, passing accuracy, elusiveness and leadership. Elusiveness is probably the key factor, though, as Nash would also excel in the area of getting snapped in half by massive defensive tackles who target his narrow, gimpy back. I'd like to rate him higher, but his career would likely come to an end the first time he was sacked.
Linebacker: Milton Bradley He's a Bryan Cox type. At 6'0", 225, he's not deficient in the area of size, and he also comes with speed and aggression. Loads and loads of aggression. He might even have been better off in football, which provides a built-in outlet for that aggression. It is a concern that he once tore his ACL in an argument with an umpire, but he's still got the potential and the upside to make this list.
Offensive Tackle: Shaquille O'Neal Outside of Sumo wrestlers, it was nearly impossible to think of anyone in any other sport who could had the size to play on an NFL offensive line. For example, people think of Prince Fielder as a pretty big guy, but he's 5'11", 270. You'd be better off with a turnstile at left tackle. Shaq, though, at at least 325 pounds, could pull it off. He never got credit for how quick and light his feet were. He could've carved out a nice career asking Michael Strahan and Warren Sapp how his rectal cavity tasted. And in the endzone, on tackle-eligible plays ... good luck covering Shaq in the corner of the endzone.
Quarterback: Sidney Crosby I couldn't decide if I should give the nod to Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin's bigger and more physical, but the quarterback position is about decision-making. It's about distributing, and Crosby's got a gift for it. He's under six-feet tall, which concerns me, but I still think that's better than rolling the dice with Ovie, who just looks the part. That's how teams end up with David Carr.

Monday:
The non-NFL athlete who would excel in the NFL, #11.