was Nixon such a football fan that he'd appoint a football player to be Speaker of the House and Vice President?
(and if he was, why didn't he do so in OTL ?)
Perhaps by playing in the NFL, he becomes a football commentator after retiring or a football coach in the NFL and doesn't join the US House of Reps. Perhaps, he becomes a cripple in the NFL through injury, since the TV age no FDR handicapped persons have been a viable candidate.
That's how football could have changed things.
BTW: Nixon also played football in college. But he wasn't as good as Ford.