Discus throwers are stronger than 99% of NFL guys, according to an Olympian who plays both sports

• Multi-sport athlete Lawrence Okoye is hoping to be competitive in Olympic discus this week.
• The British athlete has played rugby, American football, and track and field.
• He said discus throwers are stronger than people in the NFL. That's just science, Okoye believes.

Discus throwers are stronger than 99% of people who play football according to an athlete who has played both sports.

British behemoth Lawrence Okoye, 29, is targeting one of the longest discus throws of all time when his event gets underway later this week.

But his route to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo is unconventional, including pitstops at the San Francisco 49ers, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys among other NFL sides where he played as a defensive tackle.

Though Okoye spent almost five years training with football teams across North America, he never played a competitive NFL game.

However, while he said those experiences benefitted his later Olympic career, he believes people in discus are the stronger athletes if it ever came to a head-to-head.

"I have a better body," Okoye told BBC in May. "Physically I am a superior animal now to in 2012," when he made his Olympic debut, finishing 12th.

"Elite discus throwers are stronger than 99% of American football players. I would be stronger if I had done discus my whole athletic career. But in other aspects, explosiveness and athleticism, American football has aided me.

"And I know more about sport in general now than I did in 2012. I have more experience, more life experience. I have more tools in my toolbox to get the job done."

Okoye is targeting a monstrous throw of 70 meters this summer. If he did so, he'd set a new Olympic record, surpassing the 69.89 meter throw of Lithuania's Virgilijus Alekna in 2004.

"Skill-wise I'm capable of being able to do extremely well in Tokyo," Okoye said recently, according to the Independent.

"Will I have the courage to do that? We'll see. But that is what sport is, people who are the greatest perform their best at the highest level."

The men's discus throw begins Friday, July 30.