Rajon Rondo was one of the best point guards in the NBA at his peak, and he is now shining in another sport post-retirement, flag football. Frankie Vision claimed Rondo is the No. 1-ranked quarterback in flag football in the U.S., and Kendrick Perkins reacted to that on the Road Trippin’ podcast by making quite a revelation.
“I’m not shocked,” Perkins said. “Rondo was doing this the entire time I was on the team with him as a Boston Celtic. That was a dream of his. Like this motherf***er would come into the locker room, no cap, and say s*** like, ‘Bro, I’m serious. I might retire early to go get this NFL shot.’
“It wasn’t even [a] joke,” Perkins added. “He was that serious about it. He set up flag football games. This has been a passion of his… He’s probably watching film in the huddles. He’s to the tee. He for sure got a quarterback coach. Anything Rondo does, he’s going to put his all into it. He is a competitor.”
Perkins and Rondo were teammates on the Boston Celtics from 2006 to 2011, and it’s quite fascinating that the latter was already thinking about an early retirement in those days. The guard had helped the Celtics win the NBA championship in 2008 and had become an All-Star for the first time in 2010.
Just a couple of years later, in 2012, Rondo was actually asked if he thought he could have played football professionally.
“It’s easy to say that, but I don’t know,” Rondo said. “I don’t take what [NFL players] do lightly, but I think I could have played, could have gave it a shot.”
Rondo impressed as a quarterback for the Hikes Point Lobos in Louisville as a child and is in their Hall of Fame. He played football in high school as well, but stopped once he got to Kentucky.
The focus was solely on basketball by that point, but Rondo also stated that a point guard and a quarterback are the same thing. For starters, you do need to be an accurate passer to play both positions, and he certainly was one.
Rondo, a two-time champion, finished his NBA career with averages of 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game. He won three assists titles (2012, 2013, 2016) along the way and was a wizard with the ball in his hands.
To go with that passing ability, Rondo, who stands at 6’1″, was also rapid on the court, which would have made life a bit easier on the field. His freakishly big hands, 10 inches wide and 9.5 inches long, would have also helped him throw the ball better.
All of those factors contribute to Rondo being so good at flag football today at the age of 39. You can check out the clips that went viral below.
Flag football will be played at the Olympics for the first time in 2028 in Los Angeles. Could we see Rondo there? It’s hard to say at this point, but it would give him a chance to win his first gold medal at the grand event.
