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Staff Picks: Five Athlete Movie Cameos That Were Actually Well Executed

Glenn Davis: For a guy who generally seems to be something of a crank (witness his bizarre attempt to publicly shame the Lakers into getting him a statue outside Staples Center), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a stunningly good comic actor. And while he’s showcased that side of himself occasionally on The Colbert Report, for instance, his somewhat-hidden talent was unleashed for good in the 1980 classic Airplane!, and Abdul-Jabbar’s turn as plane co-pilot “Roger Murdock” will forever be his defining foray into the entertainment world.

Amazingly, “Murdock’s” biggest moment isn’t on Youtube as best we can tell, but that’s all the more reason to seek out this movie if you haven’t seen it (and really, even if you already have). Suffice to say, we will never underestimate the difficulty of dragging Walton and Lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes, and even if Kareem himself has difficulty recalling the particulars of that scene, we never will. And Kareem’s exit from the film (you can see it at the 30-second mark below) provided the perfect capper to his unexpectedly hilarious performance.

Sure, he’s wearing (most of) the basketball uniform…but this was him showing off a much, much different Kareem. And we couldn’t be happier about it.

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Spencer Lund: Adam Sandler’s The Waterboy isn’t one of his most memorable movies. It features a stuttering Sandler moving from waterboy to star linebacker, all the while muttering Sandlerisms and finding his way into the heart of a pretty girl. So, yeah, it’s your standard Sandler sports movie (and he’s made a few: Happy Gilmore, Waterboy, and the Longest Yard).

Like many of Sandler’s films, this one features some cameos, the most notable being Lawrence Taylor. Yes, the Lawrence Taylor of the rape, crack, and general debauchery fame. If only Taylor could have taken his own advice in Waterboy.

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Dan Fogarty: Alex Karras’ career highlights, in order:

1) Being named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 1960′s.

2) Entering the college football Hall of Fame.

3) Punching a horse in Blazing Saddles.

For an athlete, Karras has a great IMDb page. But his most memorable movie role was as Mongo, the slow-witted brute who trots into town on a horse with “Yes” and “No” painted on its butt.

Mongo, though, was more than a bully: he was a philosopher. Upon being asked a question by Sheriff Bart, Mongo responded with, “Don’t know…” He then proceeded to look directly into the camera, and say, “…Mongo only pawn in game of life.”

Brilliant.

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