Do Jocks Rock?

From the desk of Ned P. Rauch:

You know what you don’t see very often? Pro athletes who become musicians. Once the knees stiffen or the rotator cuff goes bust, these guys go into business, politics, acting, jail, rehab—all sorts of things. But not a whole lot become successful musicians. Sports Illustrated has a slideshow of musical athletes here (though the A-Rod Les Paul makes me want to hurl). In New York for the last decade or so, the papers have churned out a few pieces a year on how ex-Yankee Bernie Williams plays guitar and recorded an album or two. Every now and then one hears about John McEnroe having a band (and jamming with Bo Diddley), and there are a few examples of jocks getting into hip-hop, a la Shaq. Still, not a lot. And given that these guys have mountains of time and money and are geared toward learning and perfecting specific skills, you'd think more of them would rock out, right? Maybe too many of them saw this video by Carl Lewis, got scared and reckoned it'd be safer to run for Congress or buy a car dealership. It'd be hard to blame them.

(AP photo of Doug Flutie lifted from the aforementioned SI slideshow. Thanks.)