Movie Talk: Best Performances by Athletes in Movies
Uncategorized July 25th. 2007, 6:49pm
We usually talk movies on Tuesday, but due to travel, we had to push it to today. This week, we’re looking for your opinions on the 10 greatest performances by athletes in movies. We’re only looking for one athlete per movie, so as great as Penny Hardaway was in Blue Chips, we went with Shaq (only because we haven’t seen Kazaam). You may or may not recall this from the last sports movie discussion, but we haven’t seen any of the Mighty Ducks movies, nor that movie Pele was in.
10. Cam Neely in Dumb & Dumber
9. Reggie Jackson in the Naked Gun
8. Lawrence Taylor in Any Given Sunday
7. Tommy Morrison in Rocky V
6. Dan Marino in Ace Ventura
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane
4. Shaq in Blue Chips
3. Gheorghe Muresan in My Giant
2. Andre the Giant in the Princess Bride
1. Ray Allen in He Got Game
92 Responses to “Movie Talk: Best Performances by Athletes in Movies”
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July 25th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
No Jim Brown? His performance in ANY of his movies blows away anybody on that list other than Ray Allen.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
Lawrence Taylor in The Waterboy – He tells kids to stay off drugs, and a week before the movie came out, he was arrested for crack possession.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
I’d point out that Dean Cain played for the Buffalo Bills for a short period, but he was never good in anything.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
How about Bernie Casey in Revenge of the Nerds? Or Bubba Smith in Police Academy? Hightower is a legend.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Brett Favrerer in There’s Something About Mary.
Best cameo ever.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
My pick is Marino. Such a classy performance in Ace Ventura. Too bad it was in the waning years of his career. Imagine that movie in Marino’s prime. Could be top 10 material…um, yeah.
Also…how about O.J.? Wait, too soon? Yes?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I was going to say OJ as well!!!!!
July 25th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Jim Brown in I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka! Brilliant work.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Easy one. Mitch Gaylord – Gymkata
July 25th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
My Top 5:
1) Jim Brown — The Dirty Dozen
2) Alex Karras — Blazing Saddles
3) Ray Allen — He Got Game
4) Carl Weathers — Rocky II
5) Lawrence Taylor — Any Given Sunday
July 25th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
What about “The Rock”
July 25th, 2007 at 7:13 pm
Sorry, Kurt Thomas. Mitch Gaylord was American Anthem
July 25th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
No one touches Carl Weathers in Rocky and Predator.
Maybe not so much Action Jackson.
He played for the Raiders.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Take Rocky V off the list. That’s an embarrassment.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Didn’t Clemens do a cameo in a Farrelly bros. movie?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
OJ easily wins for his performance in the Naked Guns.
Bob Cousy in Blue Chips. I mean, if you had to pick one out of that movie, it should be the guy with the least amount of screentime. And, he was pretty good.
Ray Allen was pretty good in He Got Game. The movie sucked (waayyyy too long).
July 25th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Give it to the Juice…
July 25th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Agreed about Rocky V. Having Tommy Morrison on this list sheds you of even more credibility (movie-wise) than usual.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
In a Blink-Or-You’ll-Miss-It cameo back in the day Roger Clemens plays the angry boyfriend who beats up Randy Quaid in “Kingpin”
July 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Brown in Dirty Dozen would be my pick
adding:
Bernie Casey in Revenge of the Nerds or Ray Nitschske in The Longest Yard
July 25th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
First of all any list like this that doesn have Jim Brown in Mars Attacks! is a complete fraud..
July 25th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Xavier McDaniel in “Singles”.
“Steve, don’t come yet.”
July 25th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
I don’t know if Burt Reynolds counts (he was a college football star at FSU) but I would go with this list with him being in it:
5. Reggie Jackson The Naked Gun
4. LT in Shaft (to wear his LT earring his name was Lamont)
3.Andre the Giant Princess Bride
2. Bob Cousy Blue Chips (he was the AD)
1 . Burt Reynolds Boogie Nights
July 25th, 2007 at 7:22 pm
Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
This is difficult…
though I feel obligated to nominate:
Lee Trevino in Happy Gilmore
July 25th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
What about Hulk Hogan in Rocky III and No Holds Barred?!?!
July 25th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Wow Fallex… I don’t know if anybody’s ever had such a strong reaction to Dan Marino before.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
laces out dan!
July 25th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
What about Vinnie Jones? Former pro-soccer player in England? He played for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelsea, and Queens Park Rangers. But he is most famous for this:
http://www.evenison.com/images/interactive/hard-men/vinnie-jones.jpg (Ouch)
His better movies:
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) …. Cain Marko/Juggernaut
EuroTrip (2004) …. Mad Maynard
Mean Machine (2001) …. Danny Meehan
Swordfish (2001) …. Marco
Snatch. (2000) …. Bullet Tooth Tony
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) …. The Sphinx
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) …. Big Chris
July 25th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Are you trying to piss me off?! A couple of weeks ago I ask you to write about Gymkata and Rad, yet you leave those movies off this list. Here’s my list for you (it’ll be the last time I give you one).
10. Bart Connor – Rad
9. Carl Weathers – Happy Gilmore
8. Jesse Ventura – Predator (He was also great in The Running Man)
7. Jim Brown – The Dirty Dozen
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabar – Airplane!
5. Bernie Casey – Revenge of the Nerds
4. Kurt Thomas – Gymkata
3. Andre the Giant – The Princess Bride
2. Muhammad Ali – When We Were Kings
1. Carl Weathers – Rocky (the fact you forgot about this boggles my mind!)
Honorable Mention: Hulk Hogan (Rocky III), Shaq (Blue Chips), Babe Ruth (Pride of the Yankees), Jackie Robinson (Jackie Robinson Story), Jim Brown and Bernie Casey (I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!).
I think you forgot to include Arnold Schwarznegger’s Eraser in your list. Do you guys even know what your doing?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Ooh grungedave good call! Lee Trevino is Happy Gilmore was a great one.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
It was a long time ago, but Jim Bouton was actually pretty good in Robert Altman’s The Long Goodbye.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
What about seeing Terry Bradshaw’s backside in Failure to Launch?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Fred “the hammer” williamson in M*A*S*H as Spearchucker Jones
Rosie Greer in The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant
July 25th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Anna Kournikova in Me Myself & Irene
July 25th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Bradshaw in The Cannonball Run.
Joe Klecko was in that too, I think…or one of those goddamn Smokey and the Bandit movies.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Brady Quinn in Brokeback.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Chuck Norris
Jim Kelly
Bad.
Ass.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Bret Favre in Something About Mary, hands down
July 25th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Bob Euchre anyone? Major League?
And RAD!!!! What a nomination. Well done.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Xavier Mcdaniel in Singles is the funniest by far. Perfectly short and sweet. Followed closely by Kareem in Airplane and Vinnie Jones in Snatch. Rounding out the top 5 are Jim Brown in I’m Gonna Get You Sucka and Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Howie Long in Firestorm?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Cam Neely could kick the shit out of 7 of 10 (LT, Shaq, Andre the Giant excepted) on this list. He deserves to be higher. Plus he gave us “KICK HIS ASS, SEABASS!”
July 25th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
The Rock in Gridiron Gang is the best I have seen.
And I know it is not a movie but Peyton Manning’s United Way commercial on SNL is the funniest thing with an athlete I have seen.
July 25th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Bob Uecker being left off the list is a HUGE mistake!
July 25th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I think it should be said that Professional Wrestlers shouldn’t really be considered for this list in my opinion, as they are not athletes in the strict sense of the word but more of athlete/entertainers as wrestling if fake and a big production. They act everyday. Naturally that is a gateway to an acting career, as it has been for many wrestlers.
How has no one said the movie where Karim Abdul Jabaar does karate or whatever with Bruce Lee? Doesn’t that exist?
July 25th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Barry Bonds in Rookie of the Year, and Ken Griffey Jr Hitting a bomb agaisnt freddie prinze is Summer Catch…also OJ Simpson in Naked Gun is tops of all lists
July 25th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Great call with Muresan in My Giant. The scene where he’s puking while filming the movie is ridiculous.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
What about Kareem in Game of Death? He was unbelieveable.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
Evander Holyfield, Dick Butkus, Tony Dorsett, Hershel Walker, and Jerry Rice could all make it from Necessary Roughness.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
OH…I forgot Brian Bosworth’s Oscar worthy performance in Stone Cold and Lyle Alzado in Destroyer
July 25th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Uecker in Major Leagues, a great performance.
“This guy has so much noise hair, when he sneezes his nose looks like a party favor”
July 25th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Oh yea, and what about Wilt Chamberlain in Conan. He was badass.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
If you’re gonna talk about Rookie of the Year, we gotta mention Pedro Guerrero
July 25th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Fred “The Hammer” Williamson in From Dusk Till Dawn
“Come on Sex Machine!”
July 25th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Lance armstrong in either You, Me and Dupree or in Dodgeball. Both movies are iffy (as is Lance Armstrong), but his cameos are absolutely hysterical in both.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Best mention thus far: Xavier in “Singles”
Most glaring omission: Pele in “Victory” — and that, my friend, is INEXCUSABLE to leave out!!
July 25th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
#1 Without a Doubt:
John Matuszak as Sloth in Goonies
R.i.P. Tooz
Also Rans:
Vinnie Jones in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
Pele in Victory
Wilt Chamberlain in Conan the Destroyer
Joe Namath in Chatanooga Choo Choo?
July 25th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
ok any list without Bubba Smith and Police Academy or Bob Uecker is nuts!
People we are not talking about athletes that were in the movie for 5 minutes. That shouldn’t count (so Please stop talking about Brett Farve)
here is the list!
Lt – Any Given Sunday
Bubba Smith – Policy Academy 1,2,3,4,5…Hightower
Bob Uecker – Major League 1 and 2
Any movie with Jim Brown – (Original Gangsters, I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka!, ect)
Dan Marino – Ace Ventura
Andre the Giant – Princess Bride
Ray Allen – He Got Game
Carl Weathers – Rocky
Shaq – Blue Chips
OJ – the Naked Gun!
July 25th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
@bo jackson
That reminds of a great Pedro Guerrero story that I heard, but cannot repeat here.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
The Tooz was great in ND40.
Damn, forgot about Ray Nitschke and Joe Kapp in the Longest Yard, the good one.
July 25th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Andre the Giant didn’t qualify as an athlete.
“where did you leave the wheelbarrow”
“under the albino”
July 25th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
What, no Merlin Olsen?
July 25th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Did you seriously create this list without putting Hulk Hogan as “Thunder Lips” in Rocky III? My level of dissapointment can not be expressed.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Matusak in North Dallas 40 was fantastic (rumor has it he almost snagged a Golden Globe nomination)
Has any former pro athlete ever received an acting nomination (Emmy, Oscar or Golden Globe)?
July 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
How could you leave off Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson, Lamar Odom in Van Wilder?
July 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
The Great Khali in the Longest Yard
July 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Alex English in Amazing Grace and Chuck needs to go on any list.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
How about Alex English in “Amazing Grace and Chuck”…never mind.
Kareem in “Game of Death”. Pretty good fight scene against another athlete, Bruce Lee.
Do Lee and Chuck Norris count? Arnold?
Bob Uecker and Carl Weathers are top five easily.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Julius Erving’s brief appearance in “Philadelphia” qualifies as one of the worst performances ever.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Well, who could forget Hulk Hogan’s Oscar-worthy performance in Santa With Muscles? Rocky III was the Casino to that Goodfellas.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
I don’t think athlete cameos where they play themselves should count, as good as they can be. (The best of these is by far Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball.)
Also, the fact that Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles has only been mentioned twice in these posts is absolutely ridiculous to me. His performance is number one on my list, just slightly ahead of Kareem in Airplane.
July 25th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
I am shocked at the lack of love for my Brett Favre nomination. What turned you people off? Was it the way he said his lines with no emotion? That he looked like he was reading a cue card while delivering them? I can’t believe SNL never contacted him to host
July 25th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
MICHAEL JORDAN
SPACE JAM
Were you guys alive in the 90s?
I also agree, if we’re taking this halfway seriously (and I don’t think we are) Jim Brown is definitely on the list somewhere. He is one of the few “real” actors that was a former athlete IMO. And if we’re picking someone from Naked Gun, it’s definitely OJ. He was hilarious!
July 25th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
Reggie Jackson – The Naked Gun
July 25th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Jim Kelly in Enter the Dragon.
But I 2nd the above…Xavier McDaniel is by far the best…
July 26th, 2007 at 12:11 am
what about Mike Madano (of then the MInnesota North Stars) in the Mighty Ducks?
July 26th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Well, if people are going to name Hulk Hogan and the Rock, I must bring to the table this:
Roddy Piper, “They Live.”
Although my favorite Unexpected Athlete Appearance in a Movie remains Drew Bledsoe in “Jerry Maguire.”
July 26th, 2007 at 1:03 am
Tony Hawk in ‘Gleaming the Cube’ as the Pizza Hut Delivery guy, classic
July 26th, 2007 at 1:06 am
also someone mentioned it before, but Pele in Victory is a classic….
Micahel Caine stands at the chalkboard diagraming a play, Pele takes chalk and draws zigzaging lines….
“I take ball, I go here, here, here, here, Goal”
and that’s pretty much what he did in real life
July 26th, 2007 at 1:08 am
O.J. in the Naked Gun, absolutely.
All killings aside, he was amazing.
And his work on 1st & 10 as T.D., simply put, was pure genius.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:49 am
I came in here to noimate John Matuszak for his role in Caveman, little did I know he was Sloth as well. I guess that wins out …
“Tonda zug-zug Lana!”
July 26th, 2007 at 3:38 am
1. OJ
2. Andre the Giant
3. Kareem in Airplane (…Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes)
4. Tie, Joe Theisman- Cannonball run 2 (Honey, I’ve got a tool that’ll fix anything) and Terry Bradshaw – cannonball run
5. Bubba Smith
July 26th, 2007 at 5:11 am
What about Antonio Tarver in the new rocky
every xfl player in any given sunday
oj in the naked gun movies
jason kidd in like mike (i kid)
WHAT ABOUT JORDAN IN SPACE JAM!!!!
July 26th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Duane Schintzus in Eddie!!!
July 26th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
ZInedine Zidane and Raul in “Goal”
July 26th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Roger Clemens as “Skidmark” in Kingpin
July 26th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Michael Jordan was a master in “Space Jam.”
“Dr. J” Julius Erving was brilliant in “The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh”
July 26th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Y’all went up 10 points in my book for mentioning Amazing Grace and Chuck.
Alex Karass for Victor/Victoria in addition to Blazing saddles.
July 26th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Hulk Hogan: Suburban Commando.
Should be #1 on everyone’s list…how come no one has mentioned it?? I loved that movie when I was in 4th grade.
July 27th, 2007 at 4:20 am
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Alan Autry yet, though he’s more famous for his role on the TV show In The Heat of the Night. He played for the Packers in the 70s.
Weathers, thankfully, was mentioned. He’s ex-NFL and CFL.
Vinnie Jones should count doubly as a professional wrestler because he was batshit nuts.. I have to find that “Hard Men” video he did while he was still playing football (I think he was Leeds at the time).
No one stood out in the Mighty Ducks movies; just a couple cameos, including that fairy Kariya.
But the #2 spot – Carl Weathers is the best acting former athlete ever – has to be a tie between Jordan and Ray Allen, maybe with Allen getting a slight edge.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Jim Brown, Mars Attacks “I’m (punch) Byron.(punch, punch)..Williams.(punch)..heavyweight.(punch, punch, punch)..champion.(punch)..of the world!!!