Best Athlete Cameos In TV, Movies

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers created a social media buzz for his appearance in the fifth episode of the Game of Thrones final season. It got the KSL Sports team thinking about the more spectacular cameos of famous athletes in television and movies.

Warning, there may some slight spoilers here for Game of Thrones viewers.

Rodgers played a soldier is the Golden Army. It’s safe to assume his character died in the episode after getting blown up in a burst of dragon fire. 

From Mike Tyson in The Hangover to Kareem Abdul Jabar in Airplane, the list is long and mostly hilarious – with a few more serious appearances like Hines Ward in The Dark Knight. Utah’s own Karl Malone even made an appearance in Nash Bridges, a 1990s cop show.

KSL Sports has our own famous athlete with a movie cameo in Scott Mitchell, former NFL Quarterback as a no-dialogue extra in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. You can read more about that experience below, but for now, let’s get to our list of favorite athlete cameos (in no particular order).

*Warning some of the clips included below come from R rated movies*

“You shoulda shot A-Rod”

Shooting the most famous baseball player in the world isn’t as bad as costing the city of New York a championship for Mark Wahlberg’s character in The Other Guys. Wahlberg shoots Derek Jeter in the tunnel at Yankee Stadium during game 7 of the World Series. 

-Favorite of Jeremiah Jensen, KSL TV Sports Anchor 

“I got a basketball jones”

No list is complete without Space Jam. We know Michael Jordan starred in the movie but what about the other NBA stars whose basketball talent was stolen by the MonSTARS. The “basketball jones” scene in Space Jam features Charles Barkley, former BYU center Shawn Bradley and Mugsy Bogues all being poked, prodded and analyzed to figure out why they lost their game. It features a pretty catchy tune as well.

-Favorite of Josh Tilton, KSL Sports Digital Producer

“Probably only got half a P or something left”

It’s not just the movies. TV shows had some great cameos as well. We are throwing it back to Seinfeld for this one. Kramer does a very Kramer thing and sneaks into the Yankees locker room to try to get an autograph from Paul O’Neil. He then breaks it to the famous Yankee that he promised a sick kid in the hospital that he would hit him two home runs.

“It’s hard to hit home runs and where the heck’d you get two from?”

-Favorite of Jeremy Mauss, Producer of KSL’s UnRivaled

“Ball four, ball eight”

Bob Ueker had a better career as a broadcaster and comedian than he ever did as a major league baseball player. He was recognized in the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster for his work on the radio with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was known for being brilliantly funny. In the movie Major League he plays a sarcastic announcer for the terrible Cleveland Indians.

-Favorite of Scott Mitchell, Host of KSL’s UnRivaled

“I’m not about to end up like MC Hammer”

In the movie Trainwreck, LeBron James plays a frugal version of himself. Refusing to pick up a check while at lunch with a friend, played by Bill Hader, and hounding him for getting refills that aren’t free. In the end, Hader paid the check because LeBron “forgot” his wallet.

Favorite of Zak Hicken, KSL TV Sports Producer

“Let’s have a warm LT welcome”

The list of Adam Sandler sports movies is long, but we can’t leave out this gem. Lawrence Taylor, famous New York Giants linebacker, offered some important advice to a group of youth football players in Waterboy.

-Favorite of Trevor Allen, KSL Sports Digital Producer

“You know I’ll always be true to you”

Who wouldn’t want a former Green Bay Packers superstar quarterback confessing their love? Even if it wasn’t the best acting, Brett Favre’s appearance in There’s Something About Mary is shockingly touching.

-Favorite of Madisan Hinkhouse, KSL Sports Digital Producer

“For he was the fury that would be”

Heavyweight boxer Randall Craig “Tex” Cobb manages the impossible when he rides a motorcycle up a ladder and into a window in Raising Arizona as the “lone biker of the apocalypse.”

Favorite of Alex Kirry, host of KSL’s UnRivaled

“Kick his a**, Sea Bass!”

Former Boston Bruins enforcer Cam Neely had a memorable appearance as “Sea Bass,” the trucker hat wearing tough guy who spits in Harry’s burger and later has a moment with Lloyd in a gas station restroom in the 1994 classic comedy Dumb and Dumber.

– Favorite of Austin Facer, KSLSports Digital Producer

“Ace, come here”

In Ace Ventura: Pet Detective Dan Marino is Jim Carrey’s “esteemed colleague.” Marino’s esteemed colleague and backup quarterback Scott Mitchell was also in the movie. He played an offensive lineman in charge of picking Marino up in a commercial.

-Favorite of Andy Phillips, host of Special Forces Gang

You can listen to Mitchell tell the story of being on the movie and meeting Jim Carey on Helmets Off Podcast below.

The KSL’s UnRivaled crew, Mitchell and Kirry, talked about some other great athlete cameos on their radio show. Listen below.