Father of UCLA standout Lonzo Ball, LaVar, has made a name for himself by making some pretty outlandish statements throughout the college basketball season.
What many people don’t know is that the elder Ball spent some time in the NFL with the New York Jets and on the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad.
Ball also had a brief stint with the London Monarchs of the World League of American Football where he had no receptions and a measly 28 kick return yards
Bleacher Report spoke with some of LaVar’s former Monarchs’ teammates about his time playing professional football.
Via Bleacher Report
Luckily for LaVar, he quickly earned a reprieve in the form of being loaned out to the London Monarchs, where he was a backup tight end to Michael Titley.
“It was new to him, playing football and playing tight end,” said Titley, now 48 and living in Houston. “I don’t think he had played much in college. I think he was one of the first guys that they were doing that experiment with, trying to move a basketball player to tight end.”
Ball “at the time could run like a deer” despite being a “real big guy,” Titley said. “If he’d had a couple opportunities and some more time, I think he could have made something of himself football-wise.”
Cornerback Kenny McEntyre, who spent three seasons with the Monarchs, had some harsh words about LaVar’s football skills.
“Man, he’s talking all that junk—and he was garbage,” McEntyre said. “Personally, I think the most athletic people in the world are basketball players, and he actually wasn’t a bad athlete, to be honest with you. But he was no comparison to what his kids are—let’s just put it like that.
McEntyre does concede that there’s no way Ball is being serious about all the stuff that comes out of his mouth.
LaVar was always the kind of guy who was a big talker, and when I say a big talker, I mean in good spirits—nothing mad or malicious. I can’t say a bad thing about him. He was always just saying some off-the-wall stuff with a big smile on his face. Just trying to get people’s attention, make you laugh.
“A lot of the stuff I’m reading and hearing about, I don’t think he’s really serious. I know he’s not serious—he’s not crazy. I think he’s just a loving dad who’s having fun with it all, to be honest with you.”
It’s only a matter of time until someone leaks footage of LaVar Ball being terrible at football.