some people have all the talent welcome
to watchmojo.com and today we’ll be
counting down our picks for the top 10
celebrities who you didn’t know are
skilled athletes before we begin we
publish new content every day so be sure
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videos for this list will only be
including celebrities that you probably
never knew had secret athletic skills so
guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger who was
a well-known bodybuilder before becoming
an actor won’t be considered
additionally we’ll be excluding celebs
that only played on their high school or
college teams like Emma Watson who
played field hockey while attending
Brown University however if they started
playing in school and at least aspired
to playing at pro level and they’re
eligible number 10 George Clooney there
was a time when Academy Award winner and
star of the Ocean’s eleven franchise
George Clooney was not a household name
and that time was 1977 Clooney was just
16 years old but already had big plans
for his future however they weren’t what
you’re probably thinking
you see Clooney was a gifted basketball
and baseball player having played both
throughout high school he later
attempted to pursue a career in baseball
by trying out for the Cincinnati Reds
but unfortunately didn’t survive the
first round of cuts of course that was
just a blessing in disguise for the
future a lister as he’d soon be one of
the most famous celebs on the planet
number 9 Gordon Ramsay but he’s not
racking up Michelin stars opening
restaurants all over the world writing
books are starring in one of his many
reality TV programs celebrity chef
Gordon Ramsay can be found watching
football he’s a lifelong fan of the
sport and even played professionally
when he was a teenager Ramsay had a
trial run with Scottish Premiership Club
Rangers FC in the mid 80s but was
ultimately cut due to injury while he
gave up on his football dreams a long
time ago Ramsay has remained active
competing in marathons triathlons and
Ironman challenges regularly talk about
a beast
number 8 Jason Lee long time funny man
Jason Lee has a career that stretches
back more than two decades with
memorable roles in films such as small
rats and almost famous as well as the
starring role in the sitcom My Name Is
Earl however before he was an actor he
could be found tearing up skate parks Oh
the world a professional skateboarder in
the late 80s and early 90s LICO founded
his own skateboard company in 1992 he
was later featured as a playable
character in the 2006 video game Tony
Hawk’s project 8 we don’t know about you
but we think it would be pretty cool if
we played Hawk in a biopic one day
number 7 Ed O’Neill
before he was starring in hit sitcoms
like married with children and modern
family ed O’Neill had one thing on his
mind
American football the Ohio native was a
star defensive lineman and translated
his skills into a football scholarship
to Ohio University but we later
transferred to Youngstown State
University O’Neill was so good that in
1969 he was signed as an undrafted free
agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers however
he was cut during training camp and
never ended up making it as a football
player
of course O’Neill would go on to star in
the classic 90s football comedy little
Giants so it’s not like he abandoned the
sport entirely number 6 Hugh Laurie what
with his countless film and TV roles not
to mention his three Golden Globe Awards
it would be easy to assume that Hugh
Laurie always knew he would become an
actor however in the late 70s the
Englishman appeared poised for a career
in rowing Laurie took up the sport while
in school competing regularly in even
while attending Cambridge University in
1977 he even won a British national
title as part of the junior coxed pair
following these successes Laurie began
training to be an Olympic rower
but ultimately decided to pursue a
career in acting instead though he
remains a member of one of the world’s
oldest rowing clubs leander club today
not a bad skill to fall back on that’s
for sure number five
kaley cuoco ever since she landed the
role of Bridget Hennessey on a simple
rules
kaley cuoco has had no problem finding
work of course the world now knows her
best as penny The Big Bang Theory
character that turned her into a
household name yet there was a time when
it appeared Coco’s career would be in
athletics the California native was a
promising tennis player in her youth and
at one point was regionally ranked while
she gave up the sport at 16 she still
enjoys playing for fun on occasion
number 4 Kurt Russell two things
dominated Kurt Russell’s youth acting
and baseball the future Hollywood
leading man played second base for a
number of minor league teams including
the hilariously named Bend rainbows and
Walla Walla Islanders he later make his
way up to double-a ball playing for the
El Paso
Sun Kings unfortunately that was where
he tore his rotator cuff an injury that
would ultimately lead to him hanging up
the cleats once and for all of course
that was after he played ball for the
Portland Mavericks a team his father
owned and which was the subject of the
2014 documentary the battered bastards
of baseball number three Jason Statham
there was a time before the transporter
and the Expendables before Lock Stock
and Two Smoking Barrels and snatch when
Jason Statham was known more for his
diving skills than for his acting
ability and that time was 1990 that was
the year Statham who had long shown
promise as a diver competed for England
in the Commonwealth Games well he didn’t
walk away with any hardware he did
eventually land a modeling contract
while training at a London Sports Centre
that contract would lead him to meeting
director Guy Ritchie and the rest as
they say is history
number two Matthew Perry you’d be
hard-pressed to guess it by looking at
him but the former friends star was once
a nationally ranked tennis player Perry
ranked as high as 17 in the junior
singles category and third in doubles
around the same time Perry was
discovering his love of acting and when
push came to shove he decided to leave
his tennis dreams behind in favour of a
career in the arts seeing as how he went
on to star on one of the most beloved
sitcoms of all time we think he made the
right choice of course if he ever
challenges you to a tennis match you’d
be wise to come prepared number 1 Geena
Davis Academy Award winner Geena Davis
is best known for her iconic
performances in Beetlejuice Thelma &
Louise and more recently her starring
role in season 1 of The Exorcist but did
you know she is also an accomplished
Archer she picked up the sport in 1997
and just two years later found herself
vying for a spot on the US Olympic
archery team while she didn’t make the
squad she did finish twenty-fourth out
of 300 so still pretty impressive Davis
claims the whole thing was the most
out-of-body experience I’ve ever had and
that she trained like crazy
you [Music]