Allen Iverson is one of the greatest NBA shooting guards in history and that’s not an opinion that’s a fact. He was an 11-time NBA All-Star and won the league’s MVP in 2001. Iverson led the NBA in scoring four times and led the league in Steals three times. But before all the began he was an absolute beast on the gridiron.
Iverson was raised in the projects of Hampton, Virginia by a single mother. He failed the 8th Grade due to absences and that’s when he was moved to get out of the projects and his life took a turn for the better. In high school, he thrived on the football field.
A.I. was a star at Bethel High School where he was the Quarterback and appeared as a Running Back, Kick Returner and Defensive Back. He led both his high school football and basketball teams to Virginia state championships and this old clip from NFL Films shows just how electric he was on the gridiron before ‘The Answer’ committed to a life in the NBA.
This footage of him playing football is something a lot of people might’ve seen over the years but many more have no idea that A.I. was one of the most electric football players in Virginia high school history:
Before @alleniverson was a @NBA MVP, he was the answer on the gridiron.@sixers pic.twitter.com/1fupG7HzcP
— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) April 7, 2020
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Iverson played two years with the Georgetown Hoyas after High School before entering the NBA and it’s straight-up wild to think what he could’ve done for the school’s football team if they let him be a dual sport athlete. He set Georgetown’s scoring record at 22.9ppg and was a 2x Big East Defensive Player of the Year