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1/11/2008 02:58:00 PM

Top Five Athletes-Turned-Entertainers

Jim Brown
Who can forget Jim Brown's performance in "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka"?
George Rose/Getty Images
By Lang Whitaker, SI.com

One of the biggest surprises from BCS week wasn't that the SEC is remains dominant over the Big 10 -- we all knew that, right? -- but the re-emergence of Fran Tarkenton on the Fox pregame show. Younger readers may not remember him at all, or perhaps only as a former NFL QB. But to many of us, Tarkenton's greatest work came as the co-host of That's Incredible!, which was basically a reality TV program in the early '80s. Tarkenton blazed a trail for many professional athletes to move smoothly from sports into entertainment. Here are my top five former athletes who went into entertainment after their pro careers. (And pro wrestlers don't count -- they're already actors.)

1. Jim Brown: The Browns bruising runner went from setting NFL records and making nine Pro Bowl appearances to starring in dozens of movies and television shows, showing the way for everyone from Brian Bosworth to OJ Simpson.

2. Joe Garagiola: He had a mildly successful professional baseball career, then went on to do all sorts of things on TV, from guest-hosting The Tonight Show to hosting pro wrestling to calling World Series games.

3. Wayman Tisdale: Tisdale was a solid NBA power forward for a dozen years. He retired in 1997 and has reinvented himself a jazz bassist, releasing six albums, several of which charted in Billboard's contemporary jazz Top 10.

4. Yannick Noah: He not only won a French Open and produced an NBA-playing son and a model daughter, but after retiring from tennis he established himself as one of Europe's most popular recording artists. (He narrowly edges out John McEnroe in the former tennis star category.)

5. Vinnie Jones: The former tough guy captain of the Welsh soccer team played professional soccer for 15 years and then reinvented himself as an actor, specializing in playing, of course, tough guys. How tough was he? See here.

What other pro athletes went on to have the biggest careers in entertainment? Let us know below...

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes daily at SLAMonline.com
posted by SI.com | View comments |

Comments:

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Posted: January 11, 2008 4:12 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
So is Vinnie Jones the squeezer or the squeezee?
Posted: January 11, 2008 4:15 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
THE ROCK
Posted: January 11, 2008 4:48 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
No Uecker????
Streets on the China...
Never heard 'em before...
Who Cares...
Posted: January 11, 2008 4:51 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
John Matuszak as Sloth in Goonies.
Posted: January 11, 2008 11:15 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
What about John Sally?
Posted: January 11, 2008 11:58 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
how about Bubba Smith as Hightower in Police Academy?
Posted: January 12, 2008 12:55 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
larry csonka in american gladiators
Posted: January 12, 2008 3:17 PM   by Blogger Ann
Ed Marinaro from The Vikings and Hill Street Blues.
Posted: January 12, 2008 3:20 PM   by Blogger Chalkdog
Ed Marinaro of the Vikings and Hill Street Blues.
Posted: January 12, 2008 5:01 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
How about the Boz, although he wasn't much of a pro football player OR an actor.
Posted: January 12, 2008 6:13 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
OJ Simpson deserves to be mentioned because he was in the Naked Gun movies. He was actually pretty funny in them.

And of course there's also Tiki Barber, who actually was in a Broadway show and is currently an analyst.

For old school Ravens fans, who can possibly forget Siragusa? He had his own talk show and has acted in a few movies.
Posted: January 12, 2008 10:57 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Waht about the dude who was mongo in Blazing saddles and then Websters Dad?
Posted: January 13, 2008 1:11 AM   by Anonymous WiillH
Michael Jordan, "Space Jam"
Shaquille O'neal and Penny Hardaway, " Blue Chips"
CHUCK NORRIS " Everything"
Babe Ruth, " The Luckiest Man Alive"
Posted: January 13, 2008 1:21 AM   by Blogger william
Alex Karras, "Paper Lion"
Ed Marinaro
Ray Allen
Terry Bradshaw
Rick Fox
Merlin Olsen
Fred Dyer
Andre The Giant
Kareem Abdul Jabaar
Posted: January 13, 2008 4:30 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Randall Cobb in Raising Arizona. He was awesome in that film
Posted: January 14, 2008 1:10 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
How about Hells Kitchen star and world renowned chef Gordon Ramsay? He was once a 15 year old soccer prodigy with the Glasgow Rangers in Scotland
Posted: January 14, 2008 1:46 PM   by Blogger Hugging Harold Reynolds
Rowdy Roddy Piper: "They Live" & "Bodyslam" - both classics.
Posted: January 14, 2008 2:53 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Dr. J. in a the basketball film, the fish that saved Philly, not sure of the title.
Posted: January 14, 2008 4:10 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Burt Reynolds, Mark Harmon, John Wayne
Posted: January 14, 2008 4:58 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
In no particular order

Fred"The Hammer" Williamson
Fred Dryer
Merlin Olsen
Alex Karras
Bob Uecker
Shaq
Posted: January 15, 2008 8:30 AM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Dr. J in the Fish that saved Pittsburgh, great call!
Posted: January 15, 2008 11:30 AM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Where are the two governors?

arnold schwarzenegger and jesse ventura
Posted: January 15, 2008 12:24 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
One name: Fred Williamson
Posted: January 15, 2008 1:53 PM   by Anonymous JT
Alex Karras, how can you leave out Mongo (Blazing Saddles)
Posted: January 15, 2008 4:04 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
Dick Butkus in one of those Saturday Morning teen show where he's the coach and they play basketball on a miniature gym.
Posted: January 16, 2008 3:40 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
No Mr. Baseball, Bob Uecker? He was awesome in Major League. He also had a sitcom as well as the voice of the Milwaukee Brewers. He belongs on the list more than Joe G does.
Posted: February 26, 2008 1:33 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
How about. . . athlete to actor to politician. . . Ronald Reagan!
Posted: February 26, 2008 1:34 PM   by Anonymous Anonymous
How about. . . athlete to actor to politician. . . Ronald Reagan!
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