Joe Rogan is an MMA expert. At 15, he went competitive in taekwondo and kickboxing. At 19, he won his first U.S. Open grand championship. He dropped out of competition in 1989, concerned about head injuries. Stand-up seemed safer. Rogan kicked off his stand-up career after friends persuaded him to profit from his talent.
Soon after, he landed himself as host of Fear Factor. His stand-up took a hiatus until he dove back into headlining shows in the late 2000s. His podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, became such an outrageous sensation that Sirius Radio picked it up in 2011. Its open mic with guests featuring his unrestrained views.
Jim Gaffigan
Comedian Jim Gaffigan jokes about being fat, lazy, and an incompetent dad. (He does kind of have that former-football-player physique.) Gaffigan also digs up some hysterical observations about his five kids and his wife. After a dare from a friend, he became a stand-up. As one of the only comedians to sell out Madison Square Garden, he scored big. On TV, he appeared on That ‘70s Show, Ed and Sex and the City. Plus, he was a cast member on The Ellen Show.
Now he has his own: The Jim Gaffigan Show. There was nothing funny about his Georgetown presence. As an offensive guard and tackle for the Hoyas football team, he clobbered plenty of opponents. He also walked onto the Big Ten Purdue team and played a year on the Boilermakers.
Jason Sudeikis
Being a former SNL cast member, Jason Sudeikis has taken on a lot of roles, so he's no stranger to switching it up. That probably explains why he started out as a basketball player before throughout high school before he became a sketch comedian and actor. Sudeikis told ESPN that he even once played against Tyrone Lue.
The actor loves sharing this little anecdote to ease the nerves before a big audition.
George Clooney
The silver fox Geoge Clooney can just about ace anything. The accomplished actor turned director had his shot at being an athlete back in the day when he tried out for the Cincinnati Reds. We're talking way before E.R here. In 1977, a 16-year-old George dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Unfortunately for him, but certainly fortunately for us, Clooney didn't manage to score a contract with the team after a tryout.
Told that he couldn't quite make that curveball, Clooney looked elsewhere. However, things turned around for him when he auditioned for the role of Dr. Doug Ross on our favorite hospital drama. As a fictionalized doctor, he knocked out a lot of women in the 90s, and then in the 2000s, and then just, well, he's still got it.
Amy Adams
If you've ever seen Amy Adams in Drop Dead Gorgeous, you would immediately recognize that she is a dancer through and through. Her kickflips and jumps as the nutty fame-hungry teen could only be from her background in athletics and dance. While Adams didn't end up going to college, she did almost get a track scholarship.
In the end, those plans were abandoned, and she pursued dancing. Guess she found a better route and proved to be a phenomenal actress.