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Former Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson, right, announces his partnership with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Cole Whitt's apparel company on Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

(Omari Sankofa II)

It's a question that regularly incites debate among sports fans: Are NASCAR drivers athletes?

Former Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson believes so.

Burleson addressed the media at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday to announce a partnership with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Cole Whitt's apparel company.

"Whether you're swinging a club, driving a car, running a route, shooting a basketball, when you have to train mentally and physically and then go out and perform in front of a crowd of people, I feel like you're an athlete," Burleson said. "And you're not on a lower scale of it.

"These are elite athletes."

Burleson, who was drafted in 2003 by the Minnesota Vikings, played for the Seattle Seahawks from 2006-09 and for the Lions from 2010-13, has been in his share of locker rooms.

He said that Whitt's training regimen, which includes weight lifting and movement training, isn't significantly different from the regimen of a football player.

"You combine how he prepares for his job on Sunday and then going out there and doing it, it's the same thing as a quarterback getting ready for a game on Sunday," Burleson said. "There's no difference. So he's an athlete just like I am. And there is no difference.

"There isn't a guy who's better or worse. It's just two professional athletes doing their job."