Well it’s the end of summer and us Americans know what that means…football season is about to begin. So, I took it upon myself to have a little fun with it. I’ve decided to compile a Marvel and a DC football team together. This week I will introduce my picks for my Marvel team (including a coach) and next week I will introduce my picks for the DC squad. I decided to go with a regular line-up on offense, however on defense I decided to load up a 3-4 style, which has four linebackers and three down linemen. So without further ado here is my hand-picked Marvel football team:

Offense:

QB – Captain America – Considering the quarterback is suppose to be the field general and perceived leader of any team, there’s no doubt why Cap’ is my pick here.

RB – Spider-Man – Had a few choices I could’ve thrown in here, but with his agility and above-average strength there’s no doubt in my mind Spidey would be the superhero equivalent to Barry Sanders.

FB – Rhino – The guy is a steam roller. Once his momentum picks up you can’t stop Rhino. Perfect for a NFL fullback, whose whole purpose is to block and open up a path for the running back.

TE – Cable – Tight ends are traditionally hybrid players whose main job is to block, but should also be able to free himself up as an extra receiver. Cable, an excellent tactician, would excel at the two-style position.

OL –The Thing, Hammerhead, Kingpin, Luke Cage – To be honest I truly believe no one would get passed these guys. Literally four insanely strong characters, who wouldn’t budge for anyone or anything.

C – Strong Guy – The center is typically the best offensive linemen on a team, having to read the defensive schemes and make audiles at the line of scrimmage. Strong Guy, may not be the smartest hero in the Marvel Universe, he’s certainly one of the strongest making him my pick here.

WR – Quicksilver – Speed kills. Every team needs a deep threat and Quicksilver is sure to blaze down the sidelines faster than Mike Wallace on Sunday’s.

WR – Mr. Fantastic – The Fantastic Four leader gets my nod here on the mere fact of his red-zone capability. Mr. Fantastic would be able to stretch past defenders and make that fingertip, highlight reel catch you’d expect from a tall, lengthy red-zone target.

K- Deadpool – Who wouldn’t want a bad-ass, wise-cracking, junk-talking kicker on their favorite football team?

Defense:

DE – Sabertooth – If you get nightmares watching highlights of Deacon Jones and Jack Youngblood coming off the edge from back in the day than just imagine a mildly psychotic Sabertooth coming at you.

NT- The Incredible Hulk – The nose tackle is intended to clog up running lanes and disrupt passing lanes. The Hulk would surely clog up any possible running lane and wreak complete havoc on any sort of passing situation.

DE – Union Jack – Maybe an odd pick to some here, but every team needs an unsung hero or workhorse on defense. Union Jack fits the mold. Not super strong nor super fast, but would be that grinder on the field who does all the dirty work allowing the other players to make stellar plays. Remember for every Ray Lewis there was a Tony Siragusa working in the trenches freeing him up.

OLB – Beast – Agile, strong, quick reflexes everything a coach would want from an outside linebacker. Beast is quick enough to rush the passer, strong enough to stop the run, and smart enough to access the situation and react quickly to any changes mid-play.

MLB – Wolverine – Logan would definitely be the London Fletcher type linebacker here; undersized, but extremely tenacious and an unmatched ferocity making him an excellent middle linebacker.

MLB – Punisher – Not as quick or strong as his counterpart Wolverine, but what quarterback wouldn’t be intimated looking across center and seeing Frank Castle’s stone-cold stare across the way. His intimidation factor alone makes him the perfect defender.

OLB – Venom – On the opposite side of Beast’s precision-style of play I’d have Venom’s unpredictability. Where Beast would assess and intelligently react to the offense with a blitz or a drop into coverage, Venom would merely create chaos on the opposite side. A perfectly lethal combination of intelligence and anarchy for this linebacking pair.

CB –Azahel/Nightcrawler – A teleporting father/son combination at cornerback on my squad here. The teleporting ability would allow them to create a whole new meaning to the bump-and-run tactic used in the NFL. They could slow down the receiver, blitz, and then BAMF! Teleport into the secondary and make an interception all within the blink of an eye.

Azahel

Nightcrawler

FS – Iron-Man – Tony Stark flying across the secondary would easily make any offensive coordinator nervous. His speed and intelligence would likely have him playing like a Troy Polamalu; reading plays at the line of scrimmage and then covering massive amounts of yards before he’d break up a pass forty yards down the field.

SS – Doctor Doom – If Stark is the ‘smart’ safety in the secondary then surely my team would need a hard-hitting safety. Doom fits the bill here. His villainous nature and bravado would surely make him into an entertaining, hard-hitting safety.

P – Toad –Nobody ever really likes (or knows) the punter on their favorite NFL team, so naturally Toad gets the call here.

Coach – Nick Fury –The leader of S.H.I.E.L.D is a natural born leader and always has a plan (whether he tells you or not). He’d be the perfect fit for coach. Always having a perfect game plan in any situation, regardless of it how messy it may look it was still a perfect Fury-architected plan.

Well, that’s my Marvel football squad stay tuned in for next week’s DC squad.

Follow on Facebook and Twitter @theDrunkenNerd.

About Neil Strebig

Neil is a journalist student by choice and cook by trade. When he's not busy writing or slaving away in the kitchen, he spends most of his time trying to find the Legion of Doom's hideout. So far no luck, but he did manage to stumble upon Castle Greyskull in the swamps of New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @theDrunkenNerd

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