Nickname: Tommy Z (think about it…)

Height: 5′11″

Weight: 215

Reach: Taken by the Ravens in the third round.

Sponsor: Affliction

Ring Music: Notre Dame Victory March

Hometown: Arlington Heights, Illinois. It’s also been called home by a deaf chick, a couple of soccer players, a YouTube guy, and a dickhole (actually the deaf chick called it something more like “ho-am”).

Pedigree: He’s actually a real boxer.

Strength: He’s one of those rare white athletes that doesn’t require qualifiers like “scrappy” or “gritty”.

Weakness: Football

Predilection towards violence:

Fighting Style: Tommy would prefer to work his way inside against the larger boxers in the heavyweight division. He can land looping and lunging power shots from the outside, but if he stays on the end of his opponents punches he’s going to find himself in a lot of trouble. Since he’s a Notre Dame product he already fights like a champion today, or so he likes to think.

Nickname: The Ghost

Height: 6′3″

Weight: 264

Reach: The Jets drafted him despite his aversion to football.

Sponsor: APT Pro Lifting Gear

Ring Music: Pump It Up

Hometown: Detroit, Michigan

Pedigree: Gholston has been an avid weightlifter and fitness buff since a young age.

Strength: Strength

Weakness: Buckeyes are notorious bitches.

Predilection towards violence: See hometown.

Fighting Style: Gholston is all about power and speed. He attacks his opponent by going straight forward and flurrying with combinations. He relies heavily on brute force which leads to a lot of quick bouts, but his defense is non-existent.

Yesterday we introduced the idea of a tournament to decide who is the true heavyweight champion of the world, and today we have an official 16-man bracket. We started with a list of some 40-odd football players before eventually narrowing it down to the current field. And as you can see by the masterful artwork on the bracket we’ve spent countless hours on this project.

Starting tomorrow we’ll be posting a tale-of-the-tape for each of the eight first round matchups and you’ll have the opportunity to vote for your pick to move on, or for Shockey to go home in a bloody heap.

Feel free to bitch about the rankings in the comment section, or congratulate us on a complete lack of Patriots.

Bert Sugar, the beloved cigar muncher/boxing historian has frequently expressed his belief that the dearth of great American heavyweights can be directly attributed to the rise in popularity, and profitability, of leagues like the NFL. Forty years ago it was boxers who were on top of the American sports world while professional football was still struggling to find its place (fortunately it had some ardent supporters).

Obviously today’s landscape is far different. Ethan Albright is earning millions and enjoying the fame associated with being Madden ’07’s lowest rated player while some guy named Vodka Drunkenski is hoisting our once beloved title belts over his Chernobylized head. But what if that weren’t the case?

What if all of the tremendous athletes in our beloved NFL had grown up in headgear rather than helmets, and throwing jabs instead of footballs? When asked which NFLer would make the best boxer Sugar contends that “Ray Lewis would be a hell of a heavyweight,” but I think we need a tournament to make things official.

What we need from you readers is some nominations. It’s quite simple really, you name an active NFL player in the comment section and they will be considered for the field. Once the competitors are decided upon we’ll seed them and provide a tale of the tape for each match-up to help you vote. In the end, only one man will remain standing.

I’ll get the ball rolling with one guy who’s a lock for a favorable seed. He’s big, he’s crazy, and he actually boxes in the off-season. He’s Shawne Merriman.

Remember, we’re limiting this to potential heavyweights so all competitors should be at least 5′11″ (taller than Tyson) with a hypothetical boxing weight between 215 and 299 pounds.