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Best Athlete Acting Performances In Movies And TV (Part 1)


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Best Athlete Acting Performances In Movies And TV (Part 1)
More Of Our Fictitious Pop Culture Awards

Posted by Charlie Recksieck on 2025-08-19
Watching athletes try to act is like seeing your uncle try to act. Wildly entertaining, and occasionally graceful if you squint. You sit there wondering, "Should I cheer? Should I laugh? Should I buy season tickets?"

Some do a great job. And why not. They know how to perform under pressure, take direction, and have great body control. Plus, they're trained to practice relentlessly, which is half of acting anyway.

But let's face it, a lot of these Nominees: are pretty tongue-in-cheek. I loved seeing Kevin McHale make fun of Woody's hometown on Cheers, but if that was an unknown actor, he wasn't great.


A Couple Of Boring Rules

I'm leaving out wrestlers-turned-actors. That's already acting.

And let's not list actors who became better known for becoming real actors - (Arnold, Terry Crews, Burt Reynolds)

OK, let's hand out the fake hardware.


Best Athlete Cameos In Sitcom Appearances


Nominees: :
Rick Fox - Party Down
Ryan Howard - The Office
Kevin McHale - Cheers
George Foreman - Sanford And Son
Reggie Jackson - The Jeffersons
Joe Namath - Brady Bunch
Dick Butkus - My Two Dads

Winner:
Bobby Riggs - The Odd Couple

It's hard to explain just how huge the "Battle Of The Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs was. If you want one of the best YouTube nights of your life, watch the actual match coverage. Riding that momentum, Bobby had most of the best laughs of this great episode of The Odd Couple, a great great 1970s sitcom that still holds up. "Oscar Madisox."







In Larry David Universe


Nominees: :
Shaquille O’Neal - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Muggsy Bogues - Curb Your Enthusiasm
John McEnroe - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Keith Hernandez - Seinfeld
Danny Tartabull - Seinfeld
Paul O’Neill - Seinfeld

Winner:
Bill Buckner - Curb Your Enthusiasm

This was perhaps the toughest decision out of all of these. The two-part Keith Hernandez "Seinfeld" episodes are one of the series' bests. "I'M Keith Hernandez". But there's another first baseman who hits a Larry David home run and it's Bill Buckner. The "Mister Softee" episode has Curb's nuttiest pregame speech from Robert Smigel and the long-earned hero moment for Buckner at the end. But it's the little moments like Buckner at the shiva or sitting out on the curb with Larry that are priceless.







TV Drama Appearances


Nominees: :
Joe Namath - The Love Boat
Marshawn Lynch - Westworld
Muhammad Ali - Vega$
Barry Bonds - Beverly Hills, 90210

Winner:
Larry Csonka - Six Million Dollar Man

There's obviously a lot of kitsch value here. But for a 8-year-old kid who loved the 1970s Miami Dolphins and was plugged in hard to The Six Million Dollar Man, what's not to love here.







TV Recurring/Starring Roles - Drama


Nominees: :
Mike Warren - Hill Street Blues
Merlin Olsen - Father Murphy
Chuck Connors - The Rifleman
Fred Dryer - Hunter
Bruce Jenner - CHiPS

Winner:
Ed Marinaro - Hill Street Blues

I haven't watched this show in decades but it's also hard to say what a leap this show was in quality from things like Mannix, Banacek or Barnaby Jones when it came to tv drama. And while I could have gone with Chuck Connors who anchored his show, Ed Marinaro was a shockingly, surprisingly great actor.







TV Recurring Roles - Comedy


Nominees: :
Bob Seagran - Soap
Bob Uecker - Mr. Belvedere
Detlef Schrempf - Parks And Recreation
Roy Hibbert - Parks And Recreation

Winner:
Bob Golic - Saved By The Bell: The College Years

Bob's brother Mike is great as half of Mike & Mike. But let's talk about Saved By The Bell: The College Years. Even by Saved By The Bell standards, it sucks. Yet goddammit, Bob Golic is not half bad and is the only reason to watch the show besides hate watching.







Movie - Comedic Supporting Actor


Nominees: :
Alex Karras - Blazing Saddles
OJ Simpson - The Naked Gun
Bubba Smith - Police Academy
Joe Klecko - Cannonball Run
Terry Bradshow - Hooper

Winner:
Lebron James - Trainwreck

This category is stacked. Alex Karras' Mongo has huge laughs in multiple scenes ("Mongo straight", punching a horse, etc.) and if you don't think about double-homicide, OJ's series of pratfalls at the beginning of The Naked Gun is one of the best comedy sequences anywhere. But I gotta go with Lebron. He absolutely nailed the assignment in Trainwreck. Is he a great actor? Not really. Yet he wrung every laugh out of every scene he was in.







Time for an intermission. More athlete awards coming next week

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