OSU Basketball: Could Marcus Smart Play in the NFL?
Oklahoma State has produced plenty of NFL talent, but they usually don’t play in Gallagher-Iba Arena.
With so much discourse surrounding what NBA players could play in the NFL and vice versa, a former OSU star is in that mix. Marcus Smart made the cut on ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins’ list of NBA players who could play in the NFL.
The former Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder big man did not give much insight on how Smart could succeed in the NFL. However, Perkins had confidence in Smart to take on any challenge.
“If you see him in a fight with a bear, help the bear,” Perkins said.
That energy is evident to anyone who has watched Smart in the NBA, but that approach was also apparent in his two seasons in Stillwater. Smart averaged 16.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.9 steals across 64 games at OSU.
He helped the Cowboys to two NCAA Tournament appearances and won Big 12 Player of the Year as a freshman. His success led the Celtics to take him with the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft.
Smart spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics, making the playoffs every year. In Boston, the former Cowboy won the 2021-22 Defensive Player of the Year and helped his team to an NBA Finals appearance.
Of course, being in Boston, Smart was around one of the NFL’s most successful franchises. The New England Patriots won three Super Bowls during Smart’s tenure with the Celtics, so he is at least somewhat familiar with what a successful NFL team looks like.
Lemme know a good time. Lots of NFL talk out there. I have plenty front yard football experience- stop sign to street was end zone; street was OOB; mailbox was stationary defender; i was ATQ (all time quarterback); 3 Mississippi rush. Let’s see who know what this means... https://t.co/OHFy6caWnd
— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) March 17, 2020
In a Twitter Q&A in 2019, Smart said football was a sport he would have liked to go pro in outside of basketball, noting that he would have made a good linebacker. According to his OSU bio, Smart played football until sixth grade, and perhaps he would have been playing at the highest level if he had chosen to follow it instead of basketball.
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Ivan is a sports media student at Oklahoma State University. He has covered OSU athletics since 2022 and also covers the OKC Thunder for Inside The Thunder and Thunderous Intentions.