Plenty of sports celebrities have made appearances in film and television. For sports fans, it’s refreshing to see another side of someone who is primarily known for their athletic abilities. Sometimes the athletes prove to be formidable actors, sometimes they just look uncomfortable in front of the camera. Either way, most of the time, just the athlete’s existence in the movie or show is enough to get fans excited. Remember Keith Hernandez and his continuing plotlines on Seinfeld? Brett Favre in There's Something About Mary? Here are those and many more memorable athlete on-screen cameos.
While many sports legends have made film and television appearances, not every cameo is created equal. Some are just there for one scene, others get entire plot points revolving around them. The nature of the cameo is to break the fourth wall. Seeing fictional characters also get excited about famous sports stars humanizes them and can inject an invigorating breath of air into the show or film. Here are 11 of the best athlete cameos in film and television.
Lance Armstrong - Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
As the title suggests, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story follows a group of acquaintances who create a dodgeball team in order to win a tournament that would save their gymnasium from closing. Vince Vaughn’s Peter La Fleur is the team's captain, but after the untimely death of their coach, Peter loses faith in his teammates. He abandons his team and heads for the airport to leave before the championship match of the tournament. As he watches the television screens at the airport, Peter is recognized by famous cyclist, Lance Armstrong. After learning that Peter has no intention of returning to his team, Armstrong delivers a hilariously impassioned speech about what he overcame at a time when he thought about quitting cycling. Realizing his scenario makes him look like a petulant child compared to Armstrong, Peter quickly decides to rejoin his team.
Dan Marino - Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
The first of the comedy franchise that sees Jim Carrey playing a zany animal detective, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective pits Ventura against the case of a kidnapped mascot for the Miami Dolphins football team. Shortly after beginning investigative work on that case, Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, playing himself in the film, is also kidnapped just days before the Dolphins are due to compete in the Super Bowl. Ventura later learns that Ray Finkle (Sean Young), a former kicker for the Dolphins, holds a terrible grudge against Marino and blames him for Finkle missing a game-winning field goal during the Super Bowl. Marino spends much of the film with a rope tying him down, but he is still able to have some very funny banter with Carrey. The movie absolutely belongs to Carrey, but the idea of a cameo being the motivation for the film’s villain is entertaining to watch unfold.
Keith Hernandez - Seinfeld
When New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez made a special appearance on Seinfeld, the impact was so profound that it became the first extended episode of the show. His presence causes the dynamic of the entire gang to be thrown out of wack. Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is initially starstruck but quickly befriends Hernandez. George (Jason Alexander) is unimpressed and jealous of Jerry fawning over the first baseman. And Elaine (Julia Louise-Dreyfus) causes Jerry to become jealous after she goes on a few dates with Keith. The tangled web the episode spins is a treat to watch as each layer of the plot perfectly complements the others. Every character wrings the most comedy possible out of every situation, and Hernandez surprisingly holds his own against a cast of comedy legends.
Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley & Patrick Ewing - Space Jam
Alongside Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes, Space Jam saw a whole payroll worth of NBA legends make cameos in the film. The film features over a dozen cameos from various basketball players including Hall of Famers like Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Patrick Ewing. After outer space cartoons come to Earth in an attempt to save their amusement park, the cartoons, known as the Nerdlucks, steal the basketball talents of the NBA stars. The issue sets up a basketball game for Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes against the Nerdlucks in order to return the talents to his NBA friends. And of many of the joys of this '90s classic, one of the greatest is seeing the basketball legends pretending to be bad at their defining sport. Barkley and Ewing stand out in particular for their exaggerated terribleness when their talents are stolen in the middle of a game, but no matter who does it, it never gets old seeing a basketball sail yards away from the basket after a shot attempt.
Alex Karras - Blazing Saddles
A recent inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Alex Karras almost manages to steal the show from Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, and Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles. Karras plays Mongo, a dim-witted but very strong outlaw. It doesn’t take long for Mongo to leave an impression. As he rides into town on a brahman, one of Mongo’s first actions, after he dismounts, is to knock a horse unconscious with one punch. Karras shines with his hilarious delivery of Mongo’s lines. His fists may hit as hard as a truck, but his head is as hollow as a drum. So, can you really blame the guy for any of his wrongdoing? After all, Mongo is only a pawn in the game of life.
Reggie Jackson - The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
In David Zucker’s The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!, Leslie Nielsen plays a police lieutenant attempting to unravel a complicated assassination plot. He learns that a business tycoon is planning to use mind control during a California Angels baseball game in an effort to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II. Able to sneak his way into the game by disguising himself as an umpire, Frank (Nielsen) still doesn’t know who the assassin is going to be. After a few innings, a skirmish breaks out between the teams and umpires. As the teams scuffle, Frank spots the Angels right fielder, played by Reggie Jackson, robotically marching towards the Queen and chanting “I must kill the Queen.” Jackson is very humorous as he absolutely nails the robotic movements and proves he is a lot more than just a home run machine.
Brett Favre - There’s Something About Mary
Throughout the Farrelly Brothers’ There’s Something About Mary, Mary (Cameron Diaz) makes multiple references to an older boyfriend of hers, Brett. Obsessed with winning Mary’s affection, Ted (Ben Stiller) shrugs off these mentions of Brett. Ted is much more concerned with the other men he meets that are also infatuated with Mary. Among the suitors are Pat (Matt Dillon), a private investigator that Ted hired to initially track Mary down, and Norm (Lee Evans), a pizza delivery guy. At the end of the film, Ted plans to confront the others about their lies to Mary, but suddenly, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre walks in, revealing himself to be Mary’s ex-boyfriend. Favre looks pretty uncomfortable walking onto the set of a wacky Farrelly Brothers movie, but the second he walks onto the screen, his job is done. After all the mystery built up earlier in the film, his mere existence is big enough of a punchline to work.
Derek Jeter - The Other Guys
In a hilarious flashback for Mark Wahlberg’s hot-headed police detective, the audience learns why his name carries so much vitriol for the people of New York City. In game seven of the World Series, Terry (Walhberg) sees a shadowy figure entering the tunnel beneath the baseball stadium. When he yells at the person to stop and they don’t respond, he quickly draws his gun and shoots the figure in the leg. Rolling on the floor, the person is revealed to be New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter. The Yankees would go on to lose the game and Terry earned the nickname “The Yankee Clipper” while becoming the most hated man in New York City overnight. The Other Guys has a high batting average in terms of landing jokes, and while Jeter’s cameo might have the least screen time of anyone on this list, it is undoubtedly one of the funniest moments of the film.
In this comedy from Todd Phillips, four friends awake after a long night of drinking and try to piece the prior night back together. Not having any memory of the night before, they awake the next morning to find their friend Doug (Justin Bartha) missing, another friend, Stu (Ed Helms) missing a tooth, and a Bengal tiger in their bathroom. After leaving their suite to look for clues, the gang returns, only to find former professional boxer, Mike Tyson, listening to Phil Collins inside. Tyson greets the gang by immediately punching Alan (Zach Galifianakis) in the face, knocking him out. Tyson and his bodyguard accuse the group of stealing his tiger and demand they return it safely. In the film, Tyson carries the same intimidating presence that he brought to all of his boxing matches, and his scenes provide a welcome jolt of intensity to the primarily comedic film.
Baseball Stars - The Simpsons, “Homer at the Bat”
In this all-timer episode of The Simpsons, Mr. Burns recruits an abundance of major league ballplayers in the hopes of leading his recreational power plant team to a league championship. Burns builds a full team of professional ballplayers — Steve Sax, Wade Boggs, Ozzie Smith, Roger Clemens, Don Mattingly, Darryl Strawberry, Ken Griffey Jr., José Canseco, and Mike Scioscia — all voicing themselves. However, when game time rolls around, none of them are in any condition to play. Hilariously, each ballplayer succumbs to some illness or distraction that prevents them from playing in the game. From endlessly saving cats in trees to gigantism, the reasons why they can’t attend are delightfully crazy and make for one of the best Simpsons episodes ever.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Airplane!
Another comedy from the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams, this disaster movie spoof features basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a co-pilot for the titular airplane. In a movie overflowing with uproarious bits, one of the best is basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s attempt to conceal his identity as one of the plane co-pilots, Roger Murdock. Trying to blend in, Adbul-Jabbar shrugs off questions from a child who visits the cockpit. But when the kid criticizes his effort during basketball games, Abdul-Jabbar breaks character and gives a response that leaves the kid shaken. If that’s not funny enough, later in the film, when many people aboard the plane have passed out from the dinner served, Abdul-Jabbar is knocked out as well. The other characters move to remove him from his co-pilot chair, revealing that he has been wearing Los Angeles Lakers basketball shorts the entire time he was working. Airplane! Is full of great characters and cameos, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s attempt to pass for average worker Roger Murdock is among the film’s most memorable gags.