Double Deals - 11 Football Stars That Could Have Gone Pro in Other Sports Too
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11 Football Stars That Could Have Gone Pro in Other Sports
Football is one of the most athletically demanding sports there is. Players have to run for 90 minutes, with full focus needed for every minute. However, some players had a choice to make. Some players were so athletic or good at sports that football wasn’t the only career path for them. So, the question is, who are some of the players who could have never played football but still gone pro in another sport?
Clive Allen – American Football
It has been a long-asked question: how would a professional football player do in the NFL as a kicker? Well, Clive Allen decided he would answer that question.
The striker, who would score 60 goals in 105 games for Tottenham Hotspur and play for sides like Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton, decided to throw his hat into trying American football.
After a strong career in football (or 'soccer' for the sake of appeasement and differentiating), he decided that he was done with what most of the world would call football and looked to move into the American football field. He joined the Monarchs in the European NFL.
His time wasn’t long in American football; however, he proved that a footballer could do a job as a kicker. In fact, he had a 100% conversion rate, managing six out of six field goals. Pretty good for a man who didn’t dedicate his life to the sport.
Harry Kane – American Football
We move from one legendary Spurs striker to another. Kane has long been linked with moving to the NFL once he is done with football. His striking ability is on a different level, and we saw that when he tried some field goals. While it was in practice without an arena, it wouldn’t affect him.
The pressure that many people use to downplay how someone would do would be minimal for Harry Kane. This is a man who has played on the biggest stages, scoring penalties for his country and clubs when they needed him most — except against France. Although, perhaps, that particular penalty would make him perfect for a kicker role...
Throwback to when Harry Kane showed us his kicking ability 👀
— NFL (@NFL) September 24, 2026
Where would you want to see @hkane end up if he made the jump to the league? @nflukire pic.twitter.com/Ac5N0TiQ7I
In fact, our last man, Clive Allen, has already tipped Kane to join a side in the NFL. While we will hopefully have him in football for a few more years, we can see him becoming an issue for American football that they haven’t seen before.
Curtis Woodhouse – Boxing
Woodhouse is a player not many people would have heard of during his football career. He was a defender who would play for sides such as Sheffield United, Birmingham City and Hull City.
He was someone who loved the physical side of life, admitting he had been in countless street fights. However, football ended up being his original career path. When he was at the top of his game, he played 18 games for Hull in the Championship. However, without the fact that he would be a starter, he decided to leave the club.
He would stay around the bottom of the English pyramid for a bit. Then he made his decision to change his sport. He swapped the football field for the ring of a boxing canvas. This is where he thrived.
Woodhouse would have 29 professional boxing matches, with a record of 22 wins and seven losses. Out of those 22 wins, 13 would come through knockout. Pretty damn good for someone who picked this after a career where you can’t touch a man without giving away a foul.
Petr Čech – Ice Hockey
Another sport that allows for considerably more physicality than football. However, Čech is a lot more used to taking heavy hits.
After 15 years in England playing for Chelsea and Arsenal and breaking the all-time record for most clean sheets in the Premier League, Čech decided to change up the environment.
Being from the Czech Republic, Čech had always been around ice hockey growing up, with it being a huge sport in the country, so he understood the sport.
Former Chelsea FC and Arsenal FC goalkeeper Petr Čech just made his pro hockey debut in goal for the @BelfastGiants of the EIHL…
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) November 26, 2023
Petr is 41 🤯👏 pic.twitter.com/ODpK0MykJ8
Čech would join Guildford Phoenix in the fourth level of English ice hockey. He would earn Man of the Match in his first game for them after saving two penalties. After that season, he would join Chelmsford Chieftains and then Oxford City Stars in the first division.
He later revealed that ice hockey was more than just a hobby. He played it while he was growing up but ended up following the path of football. However, after that long and amazing football career, he can now enjoy professional ice hockey to its fullest.
Joe Hart – Cricket
This is another goalkeeper we almost lost to another sport. This one was a lot closer than we think. Hart is one of England’s legendary goalkeepers, but that almost never happened.
In Hart’s early days, he was at a crossroads. He was a talented goalkeeper while also being a dangerous left-arm seam bowler in cricket. In fact, he spent his early years in a cricket academy.
He would play in Worcestershire Academy alongside people who would go on to go pro in cricket. He would then join Shrewsbury Cricket Club.
He would finally leave the sport despite being touted for England’s U19 side.
I think we can see where his quick reflexes came from. He was someone who genuinely could have followed either path and had a vast amount of success in either.
Hart would return to Shrewsbury after being left out of the 2018 England World Cup side. However, since then, it looks like he’s been enjoying retirement.
Gary Lineker – Cricket
Next, we see another English legend of the sport. Lineker is known for his time at Spurs and Barcelona and his amazing time for England. However, that was almost not the case.
Like Hart, Lineker showed great ability in cricket. During an interview with David Gower, he spoke about his career and cricket. He played a match where he showed his ability in front of many professionals at the time. It led to him being asked to play a game for Bunbury’s. However, it was originally turned down as Lineker had a friendly that day.
The offer was then made that all he had to do was open the batting. However, that would turn into a very close call.
As the game went on, Lineker would get more comfortable dealing with the balls he was facing. By midday, he was 112 and not out. At that point, he had to leave to not miss the game.
However, it showed that if football wasn’t an option, cricket wouldn’t have been a bad choice as a second career path at all for the English striker.
Paolo Maldini – Tennis
One of the greatest players and defenders of all time found another career path after his time in Italy ended. It didn’t look like he was out of place at all.
Maldini wouldn’t have a long tennis career; however, it was one that saw him find some success. He would join the Aspria Tennis Cup. It was a professional tournament within the ATP Challenger Tour. Maldini and his partner would win the qualifier and take part in the actual tournament.
yeah cause maldini played tennis 😃 https://t.co/C9RYgsPAzt pic.twitter.com/VsXVNqHT1j
— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) June 14, 2022
The tournament itself didn’t end very well, with the match being over in 41 minutes. However, that was a 49-year-old Maldini. So, what could have been if that was him during the peak of his athletic ability?
Ivan Perišić – Volleyball
Perišić is a player who has played for some elite clubs during his football career. Tottenham Hotspur, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, to name a few. However, during the summer of 2017, while many people were resting, he decided that wasn’t for him.
He would take part in the Poreč Major event representing his nation. However, the tournament wasn’t the most amazing outcome. He lost his first match in straight sets.
The next match would also end in a loss. While he wasn’t able to win any of the games, he still said it was an amazing experience for him. It would have been interesting to see how he would have done if he had spent more time practising for volleyball.
Thibaut Courtois – Volleyball
Another man who could have gone pro in volleyball. The legendary Belgium goalkeeper is someone you can see playing volleyball. Standing at 199 cm (6'7"), he has the height and reach to play the sport.
However, it’s more than just biological factors that hint he could have gone pro. His sister, Valérie Courtois, is a professional volleyball player. Playing as a libero, she had a lot of the athletic ability needed, as well as quick reaction times. However, it isn’t just his sister; both parents also played volleyball at a semi-professional level.
The biggest evidence that he could have gone pro is the fact that, at the age of 12, he had already had volleyball around him all his life. He grew up with a beach volleyball court in his garden.
Courtois played the sport until the age of 12, when he decided that focusing on football was his true calling. Could we possibly see the Belgium shot-stopper give it a go when he hangs up the gloves?
Gareth Bale – Golf
The name everyone was expecting to see at some point on this list. Bale actually did give up football for golf towards the back end of his career. While he was still playing at the top level, he spent much of his time at Madrid on the golf courses.
Gareth Bale.
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Footballtweet) November 19, 2019
Wales. Golf. Madrid.
In that order. 🏴👏 pic.twitter.com/isDMYGlWzt
While Bale has downplayed the idea that he would take part in any pro-level golf tournaments, he could have spent his entire career on the green. While he enjoyed football during his younger days, when approaching the back end of his career at Madrid, you could see his true calling was golf.
He managed to improve his handicap from 3/4 to 0.1/0.5 during his playing days. The closest we will ever get to Bale playing in a professional competition now is when there are celebrity competitions.
Stuart Tomlinson - Professional Wrestler
Though not quite a footballing name as accustomed to the monniker of 'star' as some of the firepower on this list, Stuart Tomlinson had one of the most interesting career pivots we have ever seen from a footballer.
The 6'0 tall goalkeeper may not have been the tallest player around, but he certainly was amongst some of the biggest - his sheer width and strength made him an eye-catching talent during a respectable EFL career for the likes of Port Vale, Burton Albion and Barrow.
But in 2013, at the age of just 28, Tomlinson would retire from professional shot-stopping to take on a new adventure - professional wrestling.
Remember Stuart Tomlinson, the goalkeeper?
— EFL (@EFL) January 13, 2016
He’s a @WWENXT wrestler now…
Via @BBCSport >> https://t.co/pegHJAyOoT. pic.twitter.com/6xxu4svjEH
Now thirteen years ago, the Cheshire-born footballer travelled all the way to Florida, USA, to be trained in the art of pro wrestling under a developmental contract with none other than the WWE. He made his debut for the company on a taping of the developmental show, NXT, a little under a year after his arrival, and wrestled for the company under the ring-name 'Hugo Knox' for a further two years before being released in 2016.
A suitable career path for a footballer nicknamed "The Tank".
Harry Pascoe 
