Greatest Athlete Movie Roles of All Time

These performances are unforgettable.

Greatest Athlete Movie Roles of All Time

Andre the Giant in "The Princess Bride."

You’ve heard the old saying: All athletes really want to be actors, and all actors really want to be athletes. Fortunately for athletes, they have a much better chance of being cast in a movie than actors have at making a pro team. Many athletes have turned a cameo or two into supporting or leading roles in movies, and a few have even transitioned into full-time thespians.

Others have done well at something directors know they can do, and that’s play themselves. Whether an athlete portrays himself or another character, some performances stole the movie while others epitomized the expression, "so bad, it’s good."

Whether good, bad or downright ugly, these are the best athlete appearances in movie history.

60. John Salley, Bad Boys

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1995

Played: Fletcher

Appeared with: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith

Most memorable words: "Hey man, back up off me. I’m doing an illegal favor for you, OK. This is what I got put in jail for in the first place."

Bottom line: In both "Bad Boys" and "Bad Boys II," an actual Bad Boy Detroit Piston plays a nerdy computer hacker. John Salley portrays Fletcher who is tasked with doing some under-the-table work for the characters of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.

While Salley was in the first two movies, he revealed that he won’t be in the third film "Bad Boys for Life," which is slated for a 2020 release.

He is, however, a part of the "Bad Boys" television series, "L.A.’s Finest," starring Gabrielle Union, who was also in the second film.

59. Triple H, Blade: Trinity

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 2004

Played: Jarko Grimwood

Appeared with: Ryan Reynolds, Callum Keith Rennie

Most memorable words: "Spit it out, you f---ing fruitcake!"

Bottom line: Triple H portrayed a foul-mouthed vampire named Jarko Grimwood, who shared many scenes with Ryan Reynolds in one of the sequels to Blade.

This was The Game’s first movie appearance and his first acting role in which he didn’t play himself or a wrestler. But his character wasn’t well-liked by others in the movie.

At one point, Reynolds’ character shows Blade pictures of vampires, and when he comes across Triple H’s picture, he says, "And this walking diaper stain is Jarko Grimwood."

58. Deacon Jones, Heaven Can Wait

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1978

Played: Gorman

Appeared with: Warren Beatty

Most memorable words: "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Farnsworth. This is really embarrassing."

Bottom line: This film featured a number of Los Angeles Rams as well as a number of sportscasters of the late 1970s. Deacon Jones essentially plays himself in the movie as he is a defensive player who terrorizes his own team’s quarterback during a scrimmage.

That quarterback is played by Warren Beatty, who also happens to own the team. In other words, this would be like Jerry Jones putting himself in at quarterback for the Cowboys while the defense relishes the opportunity to take out Jones every chance they get.

After each sack, Jones makes sure to apologize to Beatty because, after all, he is the one who signs the checks.

57. Bill Mazeroski, The Odd Couple

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1968

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Walter Matthau

Most memorable words: N/A

Bottom line: Maz had no quotes in this movie, and the only audio from him was the sound of the bat hitting a ball which ended up in a triple play.

Mazeroski was tasked with hitting into a triple play, something he never did in his Hall of Fame career, and he had to do so in just 10 minutes of filming. In his first take, he hit the ball right, but it went just foul. Then, in his second attempt, he hit a sharp grounder to the third baseman, who stepped on the bag, threw to second, who threw to first for the triple play.

The scene was filmed in Shea Stadium, just before a Pirates game with the Mets on June 27, 1967.

56. Lennox Lewis, Ocean’s Eleven

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Movie year: 2001

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Wladimir Klitschko

Most memorable words: N/A

Bottom line: Lennox Lewis and fellow boxer Klitschko play themselves during a boxing match in a casino. The only problem is that the match takes place while Danny Ocean’s crew is performing a heist in the bowels of the casino.

At one point, the lights go out in the casino, and when they come back on, Lewis and Klitschko try to pick up their match right where it left off. That causes commotion in the ring, and all hell breaks loose.

In real life, these two former heavyweight champions never faced off in the ring although Lewis did fight Wladimir’s brother Vitali Klitschko and won via a sixth-round technical knockout.

55. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Game of Death

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1978

Played: Hakim/Mantis

Appeared with: Bruce Lee

Most memorable words: N/A

Bottom line: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s only lines from this movie were a series of grunts uttered while he was fighting Bruce Lee. It’s a startling sight to see the 7-foot-2 Abdul-Jabbar in a martial arts battle with the 5-foot-8 Lee, and in this "game of death," Abdul-Jabbar succumbs at the end of the scene.

This movie was actually filmed in late 1972, but Lee died while filming which led to five years of reshoots. In 1977, the producers tried to get Abdul-Jabbar to reshoot some scenes, but he refused so they used another seven foot-ish actor to stand in.

By the time the film was finally released, Abdul-Jabbar had moved from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Lakers, won three NBA MVP awards and was as big a global superstar as Lee was.

54. J.J. Watt, Bad Moms

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 2016

Played: Coach Craig

Appeared with: Christina Applegate

Most memorable words: "Please don’t get me fired, Gwendolyn. My cat just died, and I’m very fragile right now."

Bottom line: J.J. Watt seems like someone tailor-made to go into movies at the conclusion of his football career, but to date, this is his only acting role. Watt plays a middle school soccer coach and gets berated by unhappy PTA queen Christina Applegate’s character.

The three-time defensive player of the year filmed the movie over two days in New Orleans during the offseason although most of his teammates weren’t aware he was in the movie.

It wasn’t until teammates told him that their wives took them to see the film did they discover that their famous teammate was getting chewed out by overzealous soccer moms.

53. Mitchell Page, Angels in the Outfield

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1994

Played: Abascal

Appeared with: Danny Glover, Neal McDonough

Most memorable words: "Fundamentals? In the middle of the season?"

Bottom line: For years Mitchell Page was an outfielder for the Angels' division rival, the Oakland Athletics. But in this film, he played the first baseman for the Angels, who receive the help of an actual angel in order to win some games.

Page’s memorable words come when the team’s manager says he wants the players to arrive early to the ballpark in the morning the next day to work on fundamentals.

Page and his teammates are bewildered since they aren’t used to working on that kind of thing during the season.

52. Wilt Chamberlain, Conan the Destroyer

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1984

Played: Bombaata

Appeared with: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones

Most memorable words: "Thieves should be hanged."

Bottom line: While Wilt Chamberlain started his own film production company in the 1970s, "Conan the Destroyer" was the only acting role The Stilt ever had.

He portrays an ally of Conan but is secretly tasked with orders to kill him when a gem is obtained. Chamberlain has battles with Schwarzenegger and Grace Jones throughout the film, but perhaps the most memorable thing to emerge from this movie was a behind-the-scenes photo.

It features the seven-time Mr. Olympia Schwarzenegger looking like a little kid when standing in between Chamberlain and Andre the Giant, both of whom stood over seven feet tall.

51. Hulk Hogan, Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 1990

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Paul Bartel

Most memorable words: "Do I have to come up there myself? Do you think the Gremsters can stand up to the Hulkster? Well, if I were you, I'd run the rest of Gremlins 2! Right now! Sorry folks, it won't happen again."

Bottom line: With gremlins in the projection booth during the showing of a movie, the theater manager asks Hulk Hogan, who’s watching the movie in his full wrestling gear, to call out the gremlins in order to end their shenanigans.

Hogan proceeds to cut one of his legendary promos and then breaks the fourth wall by looking directly into the camera and talking to the viewers at home.

This was a rare cameo appearance for Hogan. At this time, he was usually starring in his own movies, including "No Holds Barred" (1989) and "Suburban Commando" (1991).

50. David Beckham, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

Athlete's sport: Soccer

Movie year: 2017

Played: Trigger

Appeared with: Charles Hunman

Most memorable words: "Give it a tug. Left foot, right foot, collect your brand. Back on the bulge."

Bottom line: David Beckham’s infamous voice and accent are unmistakable in this film, which was an ode to his good friend and director Guy Ritchie.

Beckham plays Trigger, a guard that oversees the prisoners' attempts to extract Excalibur from the stone. While many fans of the movie had no problem with Beckham’s appearance, they did have a problem with the soccer star’s high-pitched voice for this specific role.

It would seem that someone with a much-deeper voice would have added much more to this scene rather than take away from it as Beckham seemed to do.

49. John Matuszak, The Goonies

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1985

Played: Sloth

Appeared with: Jeff Cohen, Anne Ramsey, Josh Brolin

Most memorable words: "Hey, you guys!!"

Bottom line: If there was a movie character Hall of Fame, Sloth from "The Goonies" would go in on the first ballot. John Matuszak was a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Raiders, but it’s Sloth with his unique appearance and iconic quote that's he is best remembered for.

Matuszak spent five hours per day in makeup to give him the Sloth look and one of his eyes was mechanically operated off-camera to give them that uneven look.

Matuszak also gave a nod to his former employer in the film as he is wearing a Raiders shirt in one of the scenes.

48. Ken Griffey Jr., Little Big League

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1994

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Timothy Busfield, Jonathan Silverman

Most memorable words: "First, I'm taking second. After that, I'm taking third. I might even take home."

Bottom line: Ken Griffey Jr. was at the peak of his MLB powers when this movie came out, and the same can be said for him in this movie. He smacks a mammoth homer and robs a home run against the Twins, but the team and its 12-year-old manager get the best of him in one scene.

With Griffey on first base, the Twins use the hidden ball trick to deceive him and even rope in the security guard to play along. While Griffey thinks the Twins are chasing after an erroneous pickoff attempt, he trots to second base only to be tagged out and end the inning.

47. Gheorghe Muresan, My Giant

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1998

Played: Max Zamphirescu

Appeared with: Billy Crystal

Most memorable words: "They pay for this! That’s so stupid."

Bottom line: Billy Crystal was inspired to do a movie about a giant athlete after working with Andre the Giant in 1987’s "The Princess Bride." Crytstal settled on the tallest player in NBA history in Gheorghe Muresan, who stood 7 feet, 7 inches tall.

The Romanian Muresan is Max Zamphirescuh in the movie and has a thick accent. Crystal plays a talent agent and tries to pull the best out of the giant. He envisions Max as someone who could be in movies due to his unique look.

But a heart ailment causes the big character to die just after filming his one and only scene in cinema.

46. Joe Frazier, Rocky

Year: 1976

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers

Most memorable words: "Now, you’ve been ducking me a long time."

Bottom line: Credit goes to Sylvester Stallone for landing Smokin’ Joe Frazier in the first Rocky film which is way before Rocky became “Rocky.” Frazier is a special guest introduced right before Rocky and Apollo Creed do battle and he first goes over to Rocky to offer some words of encouragement. He then goes over to Apollo where he has more of a playful banter and jokes that Apollo’s been ducking him. Apollo, in jest, follows up with, “You next, Joe. You next” as the two playfully grapple.

45. Lou Gehrig, Rawhide

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Year: 1938

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Si Jenks

Most memorable words: "No, I got what I want. My sister and I bought a swell ranch in a peaceful valley — a hundred miles from a railroad."

Bottom line: This film has a bit of creepy foreshadowing as Lou Gehrig plays himself and announces at the beginning of the movie that he’s retiring and moving west as a rancher.

Just one year after the movie’s release, Gehrig actually retired, but it was due to ALS rather than his desire to be a rancher. Since the timing of the movie was so close to Gehrig acquiring the disease, which now bears his name, researchers used the film to determine if he had signs of Lou Gehrig’s disease in the movie.

They ultimately ruled that he did not.

44. Carl Weathers, Happy Gilmore

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1996

Played: Chubbs Peterson

Appeared with: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald

Most memorable words: "I hooked my ball in the rough down by the lake. Damned alligator just popped up, cut me down in my prime. He got me, but I tore one of that bastard's eyes out though. Look at that."

Bottom line: Yes, before he was Apollo Creed or Chubbs Peterson, Carl Weathers was an NFL player and spent two years in the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders.

He started acting as an extra in movies while still playing football and had a successful venture into comedy as Happy Gilmore’s mentor, Chubbs. The most iconic part of the Chubbs character was the fake hand he had throughout the movie after an alligator bit it off.

Weathers reprised his role of Chubbs in another Adam Sandler film, "Little Nicky," which was came out four years after Happy Gilmore.

43. Shaquille O’Neal, Scary Movie 4

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 2006

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Dr. Phil

Most memorable words: "You’re probably not man enough. I guess your momma was right."

Bottom line: Shaq and Dr. Phil are chained in some dungeon with hacksaws just out of their reach. Shaq has to make a shot in a basketball hoop that just happens to also be in the dungeon in order to release the hacksaws so they can use them.

Treating the shot like a free throw, Shaq bricks the first two and nearly kills Dr. Phil. The NBA Hall of Famers eventually makes the third shot, which gives the pair the use of the hacksaw.

But Dr. Phil proceeds to saw off his one foot that wasn’t chained while Shaq looks on in horror.

42. The Rock, The Mummy Returns

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 2001

Played: Scorpion King

Appeared with: Brendan Fraser

Most memorable words: "We shall see!"

Bottom line: Today, The Rock is arguably the most popular actor in the world and is one of the highest-grossing stars of all time. But nearly 20 years ago, he was a wrestler who got his film breakthrough in the sequel to "The Mummy."

Rock plays the Scorpion King and engages in a feud and battle scene with Brendan Fraser’s character. The success of The Rock's appearance led to a spinoff film titled "The Scorpion King" that starred him.

However, "The Mummy Returns" was not without difficulty. Fraser tore a spinal disk and cracked a rib while filming, and The Rock suffered from food poisoning and sunstroke in his film debut.

41. Derek Jeter, The Other Guys

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 2010

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Mark Wahlberg

Most memorable words: "You d---! I'm Derek Jeter! You shot me!"

Bottom line: Mark Wahlberg plays an overmatched cop who is a little too trigger-happy when he sees a shadowy figure in the tunnel of Yankee Stadium. He brandishes his gun and ends up shooting that person, who is later revealed to be Derek Jeter.

The incident earns Wahlberg the nickname of "The Yankee Clipper" and also earns him disdain from his coworkers who are huge Yankees fans.

Perhaps the best line of the movie is one of the fellow cops telling Wahlberg, "You should have shot A-Rod."

40. Bubba Smith, Police Academy

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1984

Played: Moses Hightower

Appeared with: Steve Guttenberg, Michael Winslow

Most memorable words: "I was a florist. … Yeah, you know, flowers and s--t."

Bottom line: Bubba Smith was the top overall pick of the 1967 NFL draft and played 11 years in the NFL, but many fans only know him as the giant cadet from the "Police Academy" series.

Smith, who stood 6 feet, 7 inches, was aptly named Moses Hightower and nearly every scene in the franchise referenced his size or superhuman strength.

He was in the first six Police Academy movies and moved up the ranks from cadet to officer to sergeant to lieutenant and finally to captain.

39. Roy Jones Jr., The Matrix Reloaded

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Movie year: 2003

Played: Ballard

Appeared with: Collin Chou

Most memorable words: "The only thing you know about me is I was about to kick your ass."

Bottom line: Back in 2003, there was no greater boxer than Roy Jones Jr., who was the pound-for-pound champion. He appeared in the second installment of "The Matrix" trilogy and engages in a fight scene with the Oracle’s bodyguard, Seraph.

While it appears that there will be a fight to the death, Seraph then halts the fight and says, "You don’t truly know someone until you fight with them. Come with me."

He welcomes in Jones, who then utters his memorable quote thinking that it was only going to be him or Seraph walking away alive.

38. Kevin Nash, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 1991

Played: Super Shredder

Appeared with: Brian Tochi, Robbie Rist, Adam Carl

Most memorable words: "Then so be it!"

Bottom line: You know how in video games once you’ve beaten the boss, then you face the super boss? Well, the same scenario happened in this movie as once the Turtles destroyed Shredder, they then faced Super Shredder, played by wrestler Kevin Nash.

Still relatively unknown as a wrestler back then, Nash was cast because he was a legitimate 6 feet, 10 inches, and the role required someone of that height to be the "super" version of Shredder.

Nash was in full costume throughout, so his face is never seen and he had just one line in the movie before taking out himself in an effort to destroy the Turtles.

37. Spud Webb, Forget Paris

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1995

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Billy Crystal

Most memorable words: N/A

Bottom line: This movie featured Billy Crystal as an NBA referee and had many cameos from star players, including Charles Barkley, David Robinson and Reggie Miller. Yet it was a Spud Webb scene that stole the movie despite Webb not saying a word.

Webb is known for being one of the shortest players in NBA history, and during one scene, Crystal is standing side-by-side with the 5-foot-7 Webb and says, "You know something? You’re the only one I can talk to."

36. Barry Bonds, Rookie of the Year

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1993

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Thomas Ian Nicholas

Most memorable words: "Ooooh!"

Bottom line: Many may not recognize Barry Bonds in "Rookie of the Year" since he is not only donning a Pittsburgh Pirates jersey, but also is about 50 pounds lighter than when he was chasing Hank Aaron’s home run record.

In this movie, Bonds is one of the many big league players Henry Rowengartner’s bionic arm victimizes in a game. Bonds’ memorable quote is his reaction after being struck out by the 12-year-old, who also strikes out Bonds' former Pirates teammate Bobby Bonilla while he's wearing a Mets jersey.

35. Bernard King, Fast Break

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1979

Played: Hustler

Appeared with: Gabe Kaplan, Mavis Washington

Most memorable words: "Daddy, meet Roberta James."

Bottom line: Filmed after Bernard King’s rookie season, the Hall of Famer plays a character nicknamed Hustler who is just what his name suggests. He plays one of the five cast-off players who help transform a bottom-feeder team into a contender. The team is coached by Gabe Kaplan who makes his feature film debut.

Sportswriter Bill Simmons said that he later talked to Kaplan about the production of the movie, and this is what Kaplan said about King: "We had 60 days of filming, and Bernard gave us 58 good ones."

Simmons added that Kaplan wouldn’t elaborate on what he meant by that.

34. Butterbean, Jackass: The Movie

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Movie year: 2002

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Johnny Knoxville

Most memorable words: "Hit me once at least."

Bottom line: Butterbean was a super heavyweight boxing champion, but in reality, he was more of a publicity stunt as a 400-pound boxer.

He’s a part of the "Jackass" movie because Knoxville wanted to have a boxing match with him in the middle of a department store. While Butterbean may be more novelty act than actual boxer, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to throw hands.

Butterbean easily knocks down Knoxville before allowing him to get up and get one shot in. Butterbean then proceeds to knock out Knoxville for the first-round KO.

33. Lyle Alzado, Ernest Goes to Camp

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1987

Played: Bronk Stinson

Appeared with: Jim Varney

Most memorable words: "He comes over and bothers us again and I’m gonna give him one of these over here and one of those over there."

Bottom line: Lyle Alzado was one of the legitimate tough guys in the NFL in the 1970s and 1980s and didn’t stray far from that in "Ernest Goes to Camp."

Alzado plays a foreman who gets into a fight early in the movie with Ernest, but the title character later gets his revenge and knocks out Alzado’s character.

This movie was supposed to be the start of a successful post-NFL career for Alzado, but he was diagnosed with cancer a short time later and died in 1992.

32. Larry Bird, Blue Chips

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1994

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Nick Nolte

Most memorable words: "Can’t run. Can’t jump. Bad back. Pathetic. How’s it going, Pete?"

Bottom line: Nick Nolte is a college coach who’s heard about a top Indiana prospect named Ricky Roe. Nolte visits the state and meets up with the greatest Indiana product of all time in Larry Bird, who sets up a meeting between Nolte and Roe.

The scene of Bird shooting jumpers on an outdoor court is actually from Bird’s home in Indiana. That court was also used in a memorable Converse commercial featuring Bird and Magic Johnson in 1984.

31. "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Spider-Man

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 2002

Played: Bonesaw McGraw

Appeared with: Tobey Maguire

Most memorable words: "Hey freak show, you’re going nowhere. I’ve got you for three minutes. Three minutes of playtime."

Bottom line: You have to wonder how many other relevant wrestlers turned down the director before he settled on Randy Savage.

The Macho Man was definitely a big name in the 1980s and 1990s, but he was 50 years old when this movie came out and hadn’t wrestled in two years. But Savage portrayed his role as a wrestler named Bonesaw McGraw well even though he came up on the losing end of his match with Spider-Man.

Fun fact: Randy Savage’s first-ever wrestling character was called "The Spider" and had characteristics similar to Spider-Man.

30. Brett Favre, There’s Something About Mary

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1998

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Ben Stiller, Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon

Most memorable words: "I’m in town to play the Dolphins ya dumbass!"

Bottom line: A fun fact about Brett Favre, or Fav-ra as he’s called in the movie, is that he was the directors’ third choice for the role.

The Farrelly brothers directed the film, and as natives of New England, they were huge Drew Bledsoe fans, and he was their first choice. But Bledsoe had to pull out, so they then asked Steve Young.

The 49ers' quarterback loved the script but didn’t love the adult language, so he declined, and the brothers had to "settle" on the reigning three-time NFL MVP.

29. John McEnroe, Mr. Deeds

Athlete's sport: Tennis

Movie year: 2002

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Adam Sandler

Most memorable words: "What kind of driving is that? You’re a f---ing disgrace!"

Bottom line: The tennis legend plays Adam Sandler’s partner in crime in the film where the two party and raise hell.

The character was so similar to McEnroe’s younger days that he wasn’t actually a character — he was billed as himself.

A McEnroe appearance wouldn’t be complete without him yelling at someone, and instead of directing his ire toward a chair umpire, McEnroe’s memorable quote is directed at a cab driver who nearly ran him over.

28. Tom Brady, Ted 2

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 2015

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Mark Wahlberg

Most memorable words: "Take your goddamn teddy bear with you!"

Bottom line: Tom Brady doesn’t have many big-screen credits to his name, but he lent a favor to director Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg, both of whom are from the New England area.

The film, perhaps unbeknownst to Brady, also seemingly takes a shot at Peyton Manning as the police are dispatched on a code 317 during the movie.

The cops say that someone is trying to steal Tom Brady’s sperm, and 317 happens to be the area code of Indianapolis, where Manning played for years.

27. Lee Trevino, Happy Gilmore

Athlete's sport: Golf

Movie year: 1996

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald

Most memorable words: "Grizzly Adams did have a beard."

Bottom line: The Hall of Fame golfer didn’t have lots of camera time in the film but is best remembered for correcting Shooter McGavin after he said Grizzly Adams didn’t have a beard.

Despite the success of the movie, Trevino regrets ever appearing in it because of the crude language used throughout.

"If they were going to use all those foul words in there, I never would have done it," said Trevino.

26. Lawrence Taylor, The Waterboy

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1998

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Adam Sandler

Most memorable words: "Gentlemen, which brings me to my next point ... don’t smoke crack."

Bottom line: Adam Sandler has never shied away from having athletes make cameos in his movies, and he called upon the greatest edge linebacker in NFL history to deliver the best line in "The Waterboy."

Bobby Boucher serves as a motivational speaker for a team coached by Lawrence Taylor, and Boucher delivers a less-than-motivating speech to the kids.

Taylor then follows that up by telling the kids not to smoke crack, which was advice that should have been given to him when he was younger.

25. Mike Ditka, Kicking & Screaming

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 2005

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Will Ferrell, Robert Duvall

Most memorable words: "I eat quitters for breakfast and spit out their bones."

Bottom line: In the film, Mike Ditka plays an intense, competitive coach, which is certainly something the legendary Bears coach and player can relate to.

Except for this time, instead of coaching Walter Payton and Jim McMahon, Ditka is coaching a youth soccer team as the assistant to Will Ferrell.

Just as Ditka once feuded with his Bears assistant Buddy Ryan, Ferrell had an intense shouting match with his assistant Mike Ditka.

24. Dale Earnhardt, BASEketball

Athlete's sport: NASCAR

Movie year: 1998

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Yasmine Bleeth

Most memorable words: "Can I go any faster? Hang on!"

Bottom line: The cult classic "BASEketball" featured many sports luminaries from Reggie Jackson to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Bob Costas and Al Michaels. But Dale Earnhardt moonlighting as a taxi driver was the perfect role for the NASCAR legend.

For someone who was nicknamed "The Intimidator," you wouldn’t think of Earnhardt when you think of a sophomoric comedy.

However, he played his role well, although he wasn’t a match for his son Dale Jr.

23. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Talladega Nights

Athlete's sport: NASCAR

Movie year: 2006

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Will Ferrell

Most memorable words: "I think you’re awesome, man. Just don’t tell any other drivers."

Bottom line: Having the most popular NASCAR driver in a NASCAR-related movie? Will Ferrell and director Adam McKay couldn’t have asked for a better cameo than Dale Earnhardt Jr., who played the role of a fan wanting an autograph from Ferrell’s character.

Dale Jr. was only on screen for a few seconds and had just two lines, but he lent some credibility to the movie.

Though his popularity has increased since 2006, this movie remains the only one that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has appeared in.

22. Bruce Smith, Little Giants

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1994

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Todd Bosley, Michale Zwiener

Most memorable words: 'You know what this is called? Intimidation."

Bottom line: A great way to motivate and inspire the kids of peewee football is by having them see the pros up close and personal.

In "Little Giants," Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Tim Brown and John Madden all made cameos to help coach up the youngsters.

Bruce Smith’s scene was all about the art of intimidation, and the Hall of Famer flexed his muscles to both intimidate the kids and to show them how to intimidate their opponents.

21. Evander Holyfield, Necessary Roughness

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Movie year: 1991

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Scott Bakula, Sinbad

Most memorable words: "I don't feel so good. I think I swallowed a finger."

Bottom line: Evander Holyfield is part of an All-Star crew of convict football players brought in to toughen up the Texas State football team. Also, on that prison team is Earl Campbell, Jerry Rice, Dick Butkus, Herschel Walker and others.

As expected, the convicts dominate Texas State, and as they are boarding the bus to go back to the prison, the only non-football player on the team, Holyfield, utters the line of the movie.

"I don't feel so good. I think I swallowed a finger."

A few years later, Holyfield nearly had his ear swallowed during a fight with Mike Tyson.

20. Darius Miles, Van Wilder

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 2002

Played: Darius

Appeared with: Ryan Reynolds

Most memorable words: "You invite them freak honeys from Mount Holyoke?"

Bottom line: Darius Miles' memorable words definitely deserve some context. He, as well as Clippers teammates Quentin Richardson and Michael Olowokandi, play college basketball players in need of a pep talk.

Ryan Reynolds promises that if the team wins, then he’ll throw a big party, to which Miles responds with the above quote.

Reynolds affirms that he’s already invited them, and that’s enough inspiration for Miles and Co. to go out and win the game.

19. Muggsy Bogues, Space Jam

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1996

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Wayne Knight, Albert Hague

Most memorable words: "Yeah, we're all right. It's just some psychosomatic deal, or something to do with the alignment of the moon or another planet."

Bottom line: As the shortest player in NBA history, Mugggsy Bogues received many acting and cameo offers, even more so than players with better careers.

In "Space Jam," he was one of the five NBA players who had their abilities stolen by the Monstars, and Bogues delivered some memorable lines.

His most memorable quote came at the end of the movie when he and the other NBA players regained their abilities after Michael Jordan and the Tune Squad won them back from the Monstars.

18. Lance Armstrong, Dodgeball

Athlete's sport: Cycling

Movie year: 2004

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Vince Vaughn

Most memorable words: "But good luck to you Peter. I'm sure this decision won't haunt you forever."

Bottom line: Lance Armstrong’s reputation in 2004 was different than it is now, but the champion cyclist was called on for some words of encouragement for Vince Vaughn’s character, Peter, who had quit on his dodgeball team.

Armstrong knows about not quitting. He didn’t do that when diagnosed with cancer, and he was able to convince Peter to rejoin the team, and they went onto win the championship.

17. Roger Clemens, Kingpin

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1996

Played: Skidmark

Appeared with: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid

Most memorable words: "I can’t believe you’re in here trying to move in on my squirrel. I oughta stoot-slap your ass right now."

Bottom line: The Farrelly brothers, who directed the film, are known for their love of New England sports, which is how then-Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens ended up in the role of Skidmark.

"The Rocket" nearly came to blows with Randy Quaid’s character before Woody Harrelson steps in to "calm" things down by punching out Quaid.

However, this punch is considered a goof by the production staff as Harrelson’s character has a prosthetic hand throughout the film and uses that same hand to deliver the punch.

16. LeBron James, Trainwreck

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 2015

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Bill Hader, Amy Schumer

Most memorable words: "What's the difference between Miami and Cleveland? It's the same."

Bottom line: When you have LeBron James in a movie, you just have to include a basketball scene, and there is one where James takes on Bill Hader’s character.

James reportedly was supposed to dominate Hader in their one-on-one game, but Hader scored a bucket on James.

The scene is included in the DVD extras, and Hader later said he thinks James was going easy on him, which allowed him to get a bucket.

15. Shaquille O'Neal, Grown Ups 2

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 2013

Played: Officer Fluzoo

Appeared with: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James

Most memorable words: "Put your hands in the air ... and wave them like you just don’t care."

Bottom line: Shaquille O'Neal has plenty of acting experience as the star in such cult classics as "Blue Chips" and "Kazaam."

But he was a throw-in in this movie that featured the comedic chops of Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade and others.

Shaq portrays a cop who gives the aforementioned a presidential police escort to a school recital while also taking a dig from Salma Hayek on his free-throw shooting.

14. Dirk Nowitzki, Like Mike

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 2002

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Bow Wow

Most memorable words: "Can I get your autograph? It's for my niece."

Bottom line: From Dirk Nowitzki to Jason Kidd to Allen Iverson to Vince Carter, "Like Mike" featured every NBA All-Star except Michael Jordan himself.

Nowitzki plays himself in the movie and appears alongside then Mavericks teammates Steve Nash and Michael Finley. The seven-foot German is the only Mav with a line in the movie as he asks the 14-year-old Bow Wow for an autograph for his niece.

When Bow Wow asks for his niece’s name, Nowitzki sheepishly responds, "Umm, Dirk."

13. Hulk Hogan, Rocky III

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 1982

Played: Thunderlips

Appeared with: Sylvester Stallone

Most memorable words: "To all my love slaves out there: Thunderlips is here. In the flesh, baby. The ultimate male versus ... the ultimate meatball. Ha, ha, ha."

Bottom line: Hulk Hogan may be the most famous wrestler who ever lived, but he was a virtual unknown back in the early 1980s. He was wrestling in Japan at the time of filming "Rocky III" and got the offer for the movie after a producer saw him wrestle Andre the Giant at Shea Stadium.

Hogan portrays a wrestler in the film who is supposed to go easy on Stallone in an exhibition charity event. But Thunderlips, as his character is named, goes anything but easy and presses and then throws Rocky out of the ring.

This would be Hogan’s first acting role and would lead to several B movies and TV shows over the next several decades.

12. Dan Marino, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1994

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Jim Carrey

Most memorable words: "Hi, I'm Dan Marino, and if anyone knows the value of protection, it's me."

Bottom line: Dan Marino’s lines in the movie weren’t as memorable as the lines said to him, "Laces out, Dan' or him pointing out the "evidence" that Lois Einhorn was actually a man.

This performance was Marino’s first acting credit in a film, and it has turned out to be his only credit as an actor. Perhaps the bad luck he suffered afterward told him he needs to spend his offseasons focusing on football rather than Hollywood.

Shortly after filming, Marino tore his Achilles tendon, which was the only major injury during his 17-year career.

11. Cam Neely, Dumb and Dumber

Athlete's sport: Hockey

Movie year: 1994

Played: Sea Bass

Appeared with: Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels

Most memorable words: "What the hell? Who's the dead man that hit me with the salt shaker?"

Bottom line: "Kick his ass, Sea Bass" was one of the most memorable quotes from "Dumb and Dumber," and Sea Bass was none other than Hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely.

The longtime Boston Bruin was one of the best goal scorers of his day, but in the movie, he was more of a goon and threatened to rough up Harry and Lloyd before being knocked out by the door of a bathroom stall.

10. O.J. Simpson, The Naked Gun

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1988

Played: Nordberg

Appeared with: Leslie Nielsen

Most memorable words: "Heroin ... Heroin, Frank!"

Bottom line: A new generation of fans were introduced to O.J. Simpson with "The Naked Gun," which came out almost 10 years after Simpson’s last NFL game.

He played the bumbling Detective Nordberg, who seemed to always do the wrong thing, which led to painful situations.

This was supposed to be the start of Simpson’s film career, but "The Naked Gun" series ended up being the end of it. After 1994’s "Naked Gun 33 1/3," Simpson never appeared on the big screen again.

9. Clay Matthews III, Pitch Perfect 2

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 2015

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson

Most memorable words: "Nobody in this room has loved more tender than I have."

Bottom line: Clay Matthews may be best known outside the football world as being in several commercials throughout his tenure with the Packers. But he made his big-screen debut in the sequel to "Pitch Perfect."

Matthews and several Packers teammates were part of a riff in which they sang Destiny’s Child "Bootylicious."

And in case you’re wondering, that is the Packers singing in the movie in addition to doing a choreographed routine.

8. Alex Karras, Blazing Saddles

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1974

Played: Mongo

Appeared with: Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little

Most memorable words: "Me Mongo … Mongo like candy."

Bottom line: A four-time NFL Pro Bowler, Alex Karras wasn’t just an athlete making a cameo. He was a legitimate actor and has over 15 film credits to his name.

In "Blazing Saddles," Karras plays a dim-witted character named Mongo, who struggles to put together complete sentences.

The Mongo character is played for laughs, including a pivotal scene in which he walks up and punches a horse, knocking it out cold.

7. Larry Bird, Space Jam

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1996

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Bill Murray, Wayne Knight

Most memorable words: "Would you get over it? It's over. It's done with. You can't play."

Bottom line: While Michael Jordan was always closer to Magic Johnson than Larry Bird, you couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job than what Bird did with his "Space Jam" cameo.

He plays a mutual friend and golfing buddy of Jordan and Bill Murray, and convinces Murray that he never had any shot at playing in the NBA.

Murray also refuses to acknowledge Bird as being white by saying, "Larry’s not white. Larry’s clear."

6. Lawrence Taylor, Any Given Sunday

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1999

Played: Luther "Shark" Lavay

Appeared with: Al Pacino

Most memorable words: "When a man Iooks back on his life, he should be proud of all of it. Not just the years he spent in pads and cleats. Not just memories of when he was great. You gotta learn that in here. Or if you don't, you ain't a man, you're just another punk."

Bottom line: Everyone from LT to Jim Brown to Terrell Owens appeared in this film. Lawrence Taylor plays an aging linebacker who is addicted to painkillers, which is a bit unnerving, considering Taylor struggled with drug addiction in real life.

But he convinces a doctor to shoot him up in the final game so he can reach certain incentives and get a $1 million bonus.

During that game, Taylor is knocked unconscious, but when he awakens, he is all smiles because he achieved the bonus.

5. Reggie Jackson, The Naked Gun

Athlete's sport: Football

Movie year: 1988

Played: Angel right fielder

Appeared with: Jeannette Charles

Most memorable words: "I must kill the queen."

Bottom line: Just weeks after his final Major League Baseball game, Reggi Jackson donned a baseball uniform again to play a hypnotized player ordered to kill the queen.

He robotically walks and talks while repeating, "I must kill the queen" and almost does it until Leslie Nielsen’s character thwarts his attempts.

Three years after this movie, Reggie Jackson met the real Queen Elizabeth, when she visited an MLB game, and Jackson was a coach.

4. Andre the Giant, The Princess Bride

Athlete's sport: Wrestling

Movie year: 1987

Played: Fezzik

Appeared with: Carl Elwes, Billy Crystal, Wallace Shawn

Most memorable words: 'You've been mostly dead all day."

Bottom line: Had his health been better, it’s easy to imagine many more acting roles for Andre the Giant like the one he had in "The Princess Bride." He portrayed Fezzik, the sidekick of Inigo Montoya, who seeks revenge throughout the film.

Despite Fezzik possessing superhuman strength, Andre was in terrible shape during filming since it came after back surgery. He was even unable to catch Robin Wright’s character as she jumped from a balcony due to his pain.

Thus, Wright was suspended by cables in the scene because Andre couldn’t support her himself.

3. Mike Tyson, The Hangover

Athlete's sport: Boxing

Movie year: 2009

Played: Himself

Appeared with: Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis

Most memorable words: "This is my favorite part coming up right now."

Bottom line: Mike Tyson was not in a good place leading up to the filming of "The Hangover." His boxing career was over, he declared bankruptcy and he was arrested multiple times for drug possession.

But his appearance in the movie and rendition of "In the Air Tonight" put a positive light on Tyson, which was something many thought they would never see again.

Tyson later said that appearing in the film convinced him to change his lifestyle, and he also was in "The Hangover Part II."

2. Bob Uecker, Major League

Athlete's sport: Baseball

Movie year: 1989

Played: Harry Doyle

Appeared with: Skip Griparis

Most memorable words: "Juuust a bit outside."

Bottom line: So how did a legendary Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster end up with the gig for a fictitious Cleveland Indians squad?

Well, Bob Uecker didn’t land the role of Harry Doyle because of his work with the Brewers. He landed it because of his work in some Miller Lite commercials in the 1980s.

The director of the film didn’t even know Uecker had been broadcasting games for the Brewers for nearly 20 years until the two met on set.

1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Airplane!

Athlete's sport: Basketball

Movie year: 1980

Played: Roger Murdock

Appeared with: Rossie Harris, Peter Graves

Most memorable words: "Tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes."

Bottom line: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was at the peak of his NBA career in 1980 and had just won his sixth MVP award and his first championship with the Los Angeles Lakers. However, "Cap" also was known as a bit of a curmudgeon who was all business, all the time.

Thus, his iconic appearance in this comedy was a much-welcomed departure from the Abdul-Jabbar that people were used to.

He had the same stoic demeanor in the movie as he did on the court, but his avoidance of being acknowledged as Kareem-Abdul Jabbar made it the greatest athlete cameo of all time.