From Touchdowns to Take-Two: 15 Football Players Who Turned to Actors

Helmet to Hollywood

It’s no news flash that American football is wildly popular all across the United States as well as in many places throughout the world, Part of the attraction is the now-legalized wagering, with lines set on both the pros and college football odds today.

There are few faces who’ve become more recognizable than (once they remove the helmets) football players. There’s no shortage of football athletes turned actors, which isn’t surprising since one requires the learning of a playbook and the other the learning of a script. It seems that as long as there’s been football (the National Football League began in 1920), there’ve been football players who’ve tried their hands (feet?) at acting.

While the level of aptitude among these would-be thespians has differed, there’s no determining the total number of players who have given it a shot. Some did it while still active, others at the end of their careers.

Some footballers/actors tried to make it in movies, others on television (but not too many became  involved in theatre).

Here’s a look at those former football players who (better or worse) turned into actors…

Who is the Football Player Who Became an Actor?

Actors athletes is a list that’s not mutually exclusive at all, There were those that starred in both vocations, while others found their niche in one more so than the other.

It’s a list that includes Pro Football Hall of Famers such as Cleveland Browns’ iconic running back Jim Brown, Los Angeles Rams’ terrific defensive tackle Merlin Olsen, and record-setting rusher O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills/San Francisco 49ers (we’re not touching Simpson’s other issues in this space).

Brown, of course, famously retired while filming The Dirty Dozen, Olsen was a name in non-football households with his work on Little House on the Prairie and hawking flowers, while Simpson ran through airports in those Hertz commercials in between roles in Towering Inferno, Naked Gun, among others.

They are also those whose work in front of the camera has been much more well-known than what they did in the field. Names such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Burt (Smokey and the Bandit) Reynolds, Carl (Apollo Creed) Weathers, and Mark (CSI) Harmon. Johnson was pro with the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League, Reynolds was a halfback at Florida St., Weathers did appear in a handful of games with the then-Oakland Raiders and Harmon played collegiately at UCLA.

Can a Footballer Become an Actor?

There is more to the list of celebrities who played football than the names above. There’s nothing preventing such a change of career. Try Ed (‘Married with Children’) O’Neill, playing collegiately in Ohio before going to camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. O’Neill is part of a footballer-turned-television star roster which includes Bubba (Michigan St.) Smith, Alex (University of Iowa) Karras. John (Colorado St.) Amos, Ed (Cornell) Marinaro, Terry (Western Michigan) Crews, Fred (San Diego St.) Dryer and others.

Karras, of course, took a gut-busting turn as Mongo in the iconic Blazing Saddles as well.

One can’t forget Broadway Joe Namath actually getting to the Great White Way in The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. That after dozens of small-screen appearances, many as pitchmen.

Any Final Thoughts?

Football players have a coach who runs the show, while actors have directors. Both are tasked with getting the best out of their casts, but neither can force them to put in the work. That’s where the drive and dedication to craft is needed. Some were more convincing as football players turned actors than others.