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We all know the following people as either television actors, movie actors, politicians or singers. However, what we do not know is that they were actually athletes back in the time, before shooting to stardom as actors or singers.We hereby present this list which has more than decent athletes, before getting all the fame and adulation. The list contains 5 Hollywood actors, 2 television actors, 2 singers and also 2 well-renowned politicians.
#11 Denzel Washington
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One of the greatest actors of our generation, winner of 2 Golden Globe & Oscars each, one would have thought he was destined for acting.
However, before getting into acting full time, Denzel was a very good basketball player. After making his way through the playgrounds in Mount Vernon, New York, and playing alongside future NBA stars Gus and Ray Williams in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Washington clawed his way into P.J. Carlesimo’s JV team for the 1972-74 seasons.
All of you who thought Denzel’s basketball was restricted to “He Got Game” have another reason to love him now.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#10 Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing)
It is an achievement if you play a sport at the national level. It is quite insane if you are actually the top ranked junior player in the country. Yes, Matthew Perry was the no. 1 junior player for Canada when he was just 13 years old!
However, by his own admission, he was never going to be as good a tennis player as he is an actor, and when the chance came, he grabbed it with both hands.
Still no small feat for any person, athlete or otherwise to be the top most ranked player of your country.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#9 Dwyane \'The Rock\' Johnson
Okay, you might know this one. No, the WWE is not a sport. You still might know this one. Nevertheless, it makes the list.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson rose to fame largely due to his exploits in the WWE and did his first movie “The Mummy Returns” in 2001. There was no looking back to stardom since then but before being “The Rock,” Dwayne Johnson was a burly defender affectionately called “Dewey” who wasn’t averse to walking in a traditional skirt and dishing out sweet music tunes at the University of Miami some 2 odd years ago. We're talking American Football here, also very affectionately known as handegg.
After high school, Johnson played for Dennis Erickson’s Hurricanes in 1991, a team that went on to win the national championship.
Even though during his 4 years with the Hurricanes, the 6"5, 290-pound bloke started only once, appearing in 39 games with a total of 77 tackles, he left a lasting impression on his coaches and teammates including Ed Orgeron saying Johnson was one of the best local talents he ever recruited.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#8 Avril Lavigne
Avril’s looks are enough to have guys drooling over her all over the world. Add to it the fact that she is an amazing singer makes things even better. Top it with the fact that she was an excellent Ice Hockey player makes her enter the dream of every eligible bachelor like a cakewalk.
Long before the sultry lass sang “Sk8r Boi,” Avril Lavrigne was a skater girl, on thin ice.
The Canadian learnt ice skating as soon as she learnt to walk, and when she was 10, she had different ‘Goals’, playing with and in the boys’ hockey league in Napanee, Ontario. She also played for the girls’ hockey and baseball teams at Napanee District High School. However, at 16, she hung up her skates after a recording offer came along, and by the time she was 17, she had broken into the music arena with her debut album, “Let Go.” which sold 16 million copies worldwide and sprung her to international stardom.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#7 Vladimir Putin
The first of the two politicians in the list makes his appearance.
The Russian president, in fact, boasts of a black belt in Judo, having practiced this form of martial art since the age of 11 and later being rewarded a Master of Sports in judo. He even wrote a full-fledged book about the history and practice of this Japanese art and released an instructional DVD entitled, "Let’s Learn Judo with Vladimir Putin."
"Judo teaches self control, the ability to feel the moment, to see the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, to strive for the best results," Putin wrote on his website. "I am sure you will agree that these are essential abilities and skills for any politician."
We are fans already.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#6 Kaley Cuoco (Penny)
Kaley who completes the Television actors’ presence in the list began playing tennis as a 3-year old, a time when the rest of us were learning to walk, and was good enough to be nationally ranked though she had to give up the sport when she began acting full time at the tender age of 16.
Her marriage to tennis professional Ryan Sweeting reiterates that she has just left playing the sport, not loving it.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#5 George Clooney
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Down to the business end, then. We have 3 actors, a politician and a singer still to go. The 5th position is occupied by perhaps the most accomplished actors of all time.
Long story short, before “Danny Ocean” was busy robbing banks and casinos, Clooney was a more than decent baseball player and even won a trial for the Cincinnati Reds at the age of 16 in 1977. We are glad he did not make the final cut, else the world would have been a different place today.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#4 Emma Watson
Though Hermoine Granger was no good at Quidditch, make no mistake, the excessively attractive Emma Watson was certainly no muck with the stick when it came to field hockey.
Before the world went gaga over her transition from a little girl to a super hot teenager, she was busy plying her trade with the hockey stick for Brown University.
Don’t we love the women with such varied tastes?
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#3 Bob Marley
The ‘true’ music lovers can rest in peace, Bob Marley has indeed made the list.
Simply put, he loved football, thought surprising for many. Indeed it doesn’t seem to go with his image of the world’s most legendary reggae star: the marihuana smoking, the lazy reggae afternoons and easy going attitude, the political activism, et al.
“Football is a whole skill to itself. A whole world. A whole universe to itself. Me love it because you have to be skilful to play it! Freedom! Football is freedom.” (Bob Marley- 1979)”
Bob Marley just loved kicking a ball be it on tour or in the recording studio. He also loved watching the game on TV. His favourite team was the Santos Football Club and favourite player was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, famously known as Pele, who played for Santos since he was 15.
The only reason he could not go ahead with football was his poor financial status. There is a blessing in everything, for had he played football, we would have been robbed of the best reggaes ever.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#2 George Bush Sr.
The list cannot possibly be complete without the most powerful man on earth back in the days. Father of George Bush the younger generation might relate to, George Bush Sr. was the 41st president of the USA during his term from 1989-1993.
Eccentric and athletic that he was, since 2007 he has single-handedly caught a 145-pound tarpon, fishing with the then Russian president Vladimir Putin (Talk about similar minded people attracted to each other) in Maine. “I don’t think he could be called an accomplished fisherman,” says Bush of Putin, and we wonder if Putin is putting his Judo on after hearing this. He also dabbled in doubles tennis with Anna Kournikova (she struck the ball on his back end with her first serve of the match) and inaugurated Tiger Woods’ golf tournament with a 200-yard hit. And when life was still boring he skydived from 10,500 feet.
After his service in World War II, Bush Sr enrolled at Yale, where he soon became the captain of the baseball team. A left-handed first baseman, Bush, Sr. lead his team into the first two College World Series.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
#1 Jason Statham
The most accomplished sportsman of them all. If you ever wondered how the Transporter star was so adept in doing his stunts, you will have your queries answered for good.
Yes, before the Expendables star was busy dabbling with action movies, he actually has a commonwealth appearance to his name, back in 1990! (He had hair too, for the record) Though he finished a lowly 11th, 10th and 8th in the three events he participated, the latest addition to the Fast & Furious family has no small achievement to his name. We leave you with the actual performance of his diving in the 1990’s.
Buy Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography here
