When it comes to following celebrities, we often overlook what kind of lives they led when before entering the spotlight. There are plenty of famous actors and television personalities that are big college sports fans, but which ones were former college athletes themselves? Here’s a list of 10 well-known people that used to spend more time on the field or court than you’d expect.
10. Jon Stewart: William & Mary soccer
Before giving comedy a try, The Daily Show host played two years of varsity soccer at William & Mary. During that time he was also a chemistry major. I know, very weird. Once he decided to drop soccer, he also changed his major to psychology. Stewart still shared his passion for the game by coaching for a short period of time.
9. John Goodman: Missouri State football
If it wasn’t for football, we may have never seen Goodman become the actor that he is today. Upon arriving at Missouri State, he was a big offensive lineman. Injury unfortunately cut his college career short on the field, but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. Goodman then switched his major to drama. The rest, as they say, is history.
8. Stone Cold Steve Austin: North Texas football
When I think of the legend that is Stone Cold, watching him fighting fellow WWE opponents and chugging some beers before smashing them together. The last thing that comes to my mind is being a football player, but the former pro wrestler was a full back during his younger years. His college career didn’t end on the high note he was probably hoped for, blowing out a knee in his final game.
7. Phil Robertson: Louisiana Tech football
Who did NFL legend Terry Bradshaw back up in college while he was at Louisiana Tech? That’d be Phil Robertson, or one of the main people behind Duck Dynasty. The Bulldogs went an unimpressive 8-20 during Robertson’s time with the team in the mid-1960s, throwing for 2,237 yards with 12 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.
Despite those ugly numbers, he had a strong arm and was being considered an NFL talent. He decided to forego playing his senior season to could focus on hunting, which was his true passion. Looks like that worked out just fine.
6. Joel McHale: Washington football
Known for having a fantastic sense of humor that’s displayed regularly on The Soup, McHale was actually a pretty talented athlete. After being born in Rome — which is pretty awesome in itself — he was raised in Seattle, Washington. When it came time for him to go off to college, the Washington Huskies recruited him as a rower. While there, he walked onto the football team as a tight end, but never actually played.
5. Ed O’Neill: Youngstown State football
Looks like Al Bundy was a good athlete after all. He was a defensive lineman in his college days, spending his first two years at Ohio University before transferring to Youngstown State for the final two. O’Neill signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers once his college career was finished, but was cut in training camp. Judging by how his acting career has gone, his fallback option wasn’t all that bad.
4. Denzel Washington: Fordham basketball
Before the actor was putting forth award-winning performances, Washington was a pretty serious college basketball player. He played JV at Fordham for P.J. Carlesimo — who was a recent graduate and varsity assistant coach at the time — and their squad put together an 18-1 record in his sophomore year. Now that’s pretty good. I suppose anything Washington touches just turns to gold.
3. Steve Carell: Denison hockey
Growing up in the Boston-area, it shouldn’t be shocking to hear that Carell took up hockey and was a pretty good goalkeeper. Instead of pursuing a Division-I program, he ended up opting for DIII hockey at Denison University in Ohio. Playing all four years, the love of the game still burns inside since he participates in an adult rec league in Los Angeles.
2. Mark Harmon: UCLA football
Growing up with a former Heisman trophy winner for a father must’ve given the NCIS star some good athlete genes that he put to good use. Harmon took his talents to UCLA as their quarterback before getting into acting. Between the 1972-73 seasons in what was then the Pac-8 Conference, the signal-caller completed 43-of-100 passes for 845 yards with nine touchdowns and nine interceptions.
1. Kenny Mayne: UNLV football
While a few on this list were surprising to see as former college athletes, none were more shocking that Mayne. Known for his quirky sense of humor on ESPN, he doesn’t appear to have the kind of physique to be a former QB. He was the backup to NFL legend Randall Cunningham at UNLV, but was named a 1978 JuCo All-American for his play at Wenatche Valley College in Washington. Although he went undrafted, Mayne did sign with the Seattle Seahawks for a brief time.
What are some other celebrities you know that were also college athletes? Let us know.
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*Section Photo credit to Bryan Bedder, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Houston Chronicle
