Few superstar athletes successfully transition from playing on the field to acting on the big screen. Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali all played roles in the movies decades ago. In today’s post I want to mention a few of the more recent professional athletes who have also starred in movies.

Jim Brown – Jim Brown is probably the most famous athlete turned actor. Brown announced his retirement on July 14, 1966 after Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell insisted that Brown report to training camp instead of finishing his work on the movie The Dirty Dozen. Now that’s dedication! He’s starred in dozens of movies including Any Given Sunday, He Got Game, and Mars Attacks!

Shaquille O’Neal – Shaq Daddy’s move fame came during the mid 90s when he starred in three movies in three years, Blue Chips (he plays a college basketball player on the take), Kazaam (he plays a genie), and Steel ( a superhero with a heavy metal suit). Shaq also had cameos in a few other movies.

Michael Jordan – The Air Man starred alongside Bugs bunny in the live action/cartoon basketball movie Space Jam. It’s a fun family movie but not something you’d find in an AMC Vault. Though it was never adapted to a major motion picture, Jordan also starred as himself in the cartoon series ProStars, with Wayne Gretsky and Bo Jackson.

OJ Simpson – Legal woes aside… The Juice starred in a dozen movies. Most notably for his role as Nordberg in the Naked Gun series. Remember when he’s in the wheelchair at the end of Naked Gun and wheels down the stadium steps backwards? Classic OJ. He also played in several dramas including The Towering Inferno and Back to the Beach.

Brief Roles:
Brett Favre – Played himself in Something About Mary

Dan Marino – Played himself in Ace Ventura

While athletes may star in a lot of films (some of them are quite funny), I don’t think we’ll be seeing any Oscar winners grown from the dugout. Although Jason Taylor may be retiring soon…

The sports movie genre is filled with instant classics. These movies are not made just for men or sports fans, but all movie watchers. Sports movies are comprised with elements of competition, humor, joy and sorrow. There are highs and there are lows. Often, the audience is taught an important life lesson.
There are hundreds of sports movies to choose from. To narrow it down, I tried to spread the Top 6 among movies from different sports. I could comprise a list of Top Sports Movies and use only basketball films (Hoosiers, Blue Chips, Air Bud, etc) but that wouldn’t be any fun. Variety makes a Top list worthy.

Below are my picks for Top 6 Sports Movies of All-Time:

	No. 6 – The Pride of the Yankees Gary Cooper stars as Lou Gehrig in this great American baseball story. I remember watching this movie for the first time in speech class because of the amazing delivery of Gehrigs speech in his last game as a Yankee. Watch the Speech
	No. 5 – The Sandlot The Sandlot is another baseball movie that takes grown-ups back to their childhood. What kid didn’t spend his summer days playing baseball, swimming in the community pool and chewing tobacco on the tilt-a-whirl? Sandlot tells the story of Scotty Smalls and Benny “The Jet” during that magical summer on the sandlot.
	No. 4 – Rudy Rudy is the ultimate underdog story. Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger’s lifelong dream was to play football for Notre Dame, but his entire life he’s always told he’s too small, too slow or just can’t do it. Rudy has heart, never gives up, and eventually steps on the field as a walk-on senior in the last game of the season. Check out how hardcore a Notre Dame fan Rudy is.
	No. 3 – Bull Durham Kevin Costner probably has 3 or 4 movies in the Top 25 Sports Movies of all-time, but Bull Durham is his best. It’s a hilarious baseball movie that tells the story of a minor leaguer Crash Davis. the movies brings you inside the clubhouse and the lifestyle of a lifelong minor leaguer.
	No. 2 – Slap Shot Another minor league sports film on the list! This time it’s hockey. Slap Shot, starring Paul Newman is one of the funniest movies of all-time. It’s not the raunchy and vulgar humor that make this film an instant classic, it’s the Hanson Brothers and the notorious Ogie Ogelthorpe.
	No. 1 – Caddyshack You don’t have to be a golf fan to appreciate the greatness of Caddyshack. This is one of those movies that you will stop flipping channels and watch till the end no matter what time of night it is. The entire cast is great and the characters are even better. Who could ever forget Ty Webb, Judge Smails, Danny Noonan, Lacy Underall and Carl Spackler?