20 Actors That Were College Athletes

Before he was building a duck dynasty, Phil Robertson was throwing football’s to his college teammates on the gridiron, as he was the quarterback for Louisiana Tech. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway)

One of Hollywood’s darlings, Emma Watson showed that she was more than just a pretty face, as she played for the Brown University field hockey team while attending college. (Photo by Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

One of the most successful celeb athletes, Mark Harmon didn’t just play a sport while at UCLA, but actually led the Bruins to a 17-5 record in two seasons as the team’s starting quarterback. (Photo by Hannes Magerstaedt/Getty Images)

As one of the biggest action stars on the planet and a former wrestling champ, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has accomplished a lot during his career already. Before jumping into those jobs, though, he was a defensive lineman for the University of Miami football team. (Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)

Although he went on to much bigger things in his life, former President of the United States George H. W. Bush was a star for Yale’s baseball team first. Bush led the team to the College World Series as the team captain before his senior year. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

OK, so actor Jason Statham didn’t participate a sport in college per se, but he was a competitor for the British national diving team, so we just had to give him his due props—that’s quite the achievement. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Burt Reynolds has enjoyed a long acting career, but he could have made it as a football player before stepping on-screen. That’s because he was a star running back for the Florida State Seminoles before a car crash ended his playing days. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Spike TV)

Many recognize actor Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed from the Rocky movies and from his role as Chubbs in Happy Gilmore, but before stepping in front of the camera, Weathers was bulling people over as linebacker for San Diego State. (Photo by Steve Grayson/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Best known from his roles as Al Bundy from Married…With Children and Jay Pritchett in Modern Family, Ed O’Neill was a star football player in Ohio before getting into acting. O’Neill played at Ohio University before transferring to Youngstown State. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images For Hollywood Life)

Matthew Fox might have played a football coach in We Are Marshall, but he actually played on the gridiron before that, too. Though his team endured a 44-game losing streak during college, he still suited up for Columbia University as a wide receiver. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)

Actor Forest Whitaker might appear to be a nice guy, but he probably exhibited some intensity while playing football for the University of Southern California—before giving it up to focus on music and acting. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images)

Not nearly as big of a star as a few of these other celebs, Marc Blucas can brag about one thing—he played hoops at Wake Forest with a future Hall of Famer. That’s because Blucas was a teammate during Tim Duncan’s freshman year at the school as a point guard. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

The Baldwin Brothers are known as being a bit wild, and Billy Baldwin proved to be just that—on the wrestling mat, anyway. Baldwin was a standout wrestler while in college at Binghamton University. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

We’re not sure if Tom Selleck had his legendary stache while in college, but one thing that he did have was a spot on the Southern Cal basketball team. Sure, he has joked about being third-string, but he still suited up for the Trojans before focusing on acting and modeling. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images)

He’s a great actor, but Edward Norton proved himself to be a pretty darn good rower, too. At least, he was decent enough to participate for Yale University before a back injury ended his crew career. (Photo by Mike McGregor/Getty Images for Cantor Fitzgerald)

There’s probably a reason why Spike Lee casted Denzel Washington as Jake Shuttlesworth in the hoops film, He Got Game—because Denzel actually had game. The actor played ball under future NBA coach P.J. Carlesimo at Fordham University. (Photo by Ronny Hartmann/Bongarts/Getty Images)

He wasn’t a star in the least bit, but actor David Duchovny did play on the JV squad for Princeton University during his freshman year at the school. That’s not much, but it’s more than any of us can probably claim. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

He may be a funny guy now, but actor Joel McHale was a little more fiery as a tight end for the Washington Huskies football team in the early-’90s. McHale even got the chance to be on a team that played in the Huskies Rose Bowl Game. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Spike)

One of the best late-night hosts on TV, Jon Stewart was first a soccer player, good enough to earn a spot on William & Mary’s roster during college before giving it up for a run at a comedy career. (Photo by Peter Kramer/Getty Images)

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