OT: 7-foot-9 Olivier Rioux gives football a try at Florida

[HooperScooper]

Something tells me this isn't going to work out so well.

"I like the idea," Gators basketball coach Todd Golden said during a booster event Thursday evening. "I give them credit for trying it."

There was one issue: The 305-pound Rioux has an 11-inch vertical, so even with his extra-long reach, he was unable to block any kicks during the workout.

"They were a little disappointed," Golden said.

Gators' Rioux, all 7-foot-9 of him, tries football

Florida basketball player Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 center who played for the Under-19 Canadian national team this summer, recently worked out for the Gators' football team.

www.espn.com

11 inch vertical? If he stands on his tippy toes he could probably get more extension,

 

[FfldCntyFan]

He has every bit as good a shot at zero playing time in football as he had in basketball.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Something tells me this isn't going to work out so well.

"I like the idea," Gators basketball coach Todd Golden said during a booster event Thursday evening. "I give them credit for trying it."

There was one issue: The 305-pound Rioux has an 11-inch vertical, so even with his extra-long reach, he was unable to block any kicks during the workout.

"They were a little disappointed," Golden said.

Gators' Rioux, all 7-foot-9 of him, tries football

Florida basketball player Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 center who played for the Under-19 Canadian national team this summer, recently worked out for the Gators' football team.

www.espn.com

11 inch vertical? If he stands on his tippy toes he could probably get more extension,

I have been waiting for a team to try this! Somebody like Tacko Fall, who can jump a litte better, would certainly influence the kicks. Especially long kicks.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I have been waiting for a team to try this! Somebody like Tacko Fall, who can jump a litte better, would certainly influence the kicks. Especially long kicks.

Even if for just the psychological effect on the kickers

 

[thekollieman]

I don’t know enough about football to know how frequently someone playing that position gets hit, but I feel like Rioux would have an all-sports career-ending injury the very first time it happened to him.

 

[CL82]

Something tells me this isn't going to work out so well.

"I like the idea," Gators basketball coach Todd Golden said during a booster event Thursday evening. "I give them credit for trying it."

There was one issue: The 305-pound Rioux has an 11-inch vertical, so even with his extra-long reach, he was unable to block any kicks during the workout.

"They were a little disappointed," Golden said.

Gators' Rioux, all 7-foot-9 of him, tries football

Florida basketball player Olivier Rioux, a 7-foot-9 center who played for the Under-19 Canadian national team this summer, recently worked out for the Gators' football team.

www.espn.com

11 inch vertical? If he stands on his tippy toes he could probably get more extension,

By way of comparison, my 5'6" daughter had a 27.5" vertical in high school.

 

[Fishy]

Golden is trying to kill him to get the scholarship back.

 

[TheHorde]

An 11 inch vertical makes me feel much better about myself

 

[thekollieman]

By way of comparison, my 5'6" daughter had a 27.5" vertical in high school.

To be fair he probably outweighs her by about 200 lbs

 

[ec33]

He has every bit as good a shot at zero playing time in football as he had in basketball.

What sport do you think he will not play next?

 

[CL82]

What sport do you think he will not play next?

Hockey

 

[Travelman6]

Hockey

Putting a sumo wrestler in goal is always fun.

 

[UconnU]

I never understood why football teams didn’t roster an extremely tall athlete, there’s so many uses. Football is a game of mismatches. A 6’10+ NBA style athlete could be used in multiple ways; blocking field goals(ball crosses line @ 8-11 ft off the ground), block distance punts, catch lob TDs/jump balls(the tallest DB/LB in the NFL is maybe 6’5), etc

 

[HuskyHawk]

Even if for just the psychological effect on the kickers

Exactly. Not on short kicks that go high quickly, but 40-50 yard kicks have to be low when they go over the line. That guy being there could cause the kicker to kick it higher which will rob distance.

 

[temery]

I never understood why football teams didn’t roster an extremely tall athlete, there’s so many uses. Football is a game of mismatches. A 6’10+ NBA style athlete could be used in multiple ways; blocking field goals(ball crosses line @ 8-11 ft off the ground), block distance punts, catch lob TDs/jump balls(the tallest DB/LB in the NFL is maybe 6’5), etc

I've never understood why football teams didn't have at least one midget to throw over the line when it's 4th and a few inches.

 

[JohnFSilver]

I've never never understood why football teams didn't have at least one midget to throw over the line when it's first and a few inches.

Haha. Can you throw a player in football?

 

[temery]

Haha. Can you throw a player in football?

I can throw a midget at least a few feet

 

[navery12]

This guy gets talked about more than any other walk on in college basketball history

 

[imno1]

I was intrigued until I watched him get out-jumped on the tip off by Reibe during fiba

 

[Hurleyman216]

Does Florida not have a D1 Men’s beach volleyball team this guy can play on? Lol

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Hockey

My daughter had a game in Scranton last season and this dude was playing in the same rink after. I thought he was on stilts as he walked by.

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[CL82]

My daughter had a game in Scranton last season and this dude was playing in the same rink after. I thought he was on stilts as he walked by.

Penn State secures recruitment of Alexander Carmanov, a 7-foot, 276-pound Russian defenseman

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That's a big dude. I remember Mark Correia at UConn. He was a football player. OL, if I recall correctly. I'd say probably 6'4" maybe 250. He played rec hockey at school and look like a giant on a pair of skates. If I remember correctly, they actually outlawed his slap shot from the rec league because it was "too hard". Good guy.

 

[superjohn]

I've never never understood why football teams didn't have at least one midget to throw over the line when it's first and a few inches.

Mike Leach supposedly had to be talked out of doing dwarf tossing down at the goal line.

 

[CL82]

I've never never understood why football teams didn't have at least one midget to throw over the line when it's first and a few inches.

Throwing a player to gain short yardage used to be a thing. In fact for a while, they used to sew handles on the jerseys to facilitate.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I've never never understood why football teams didn't have at least one midget to throw over the line when it's first and a few inches.

The optics when a linebacker times the first one up perfectly would not be good.