One of Us/Athletic Eggheads

• Tim Duncan: de facto leader of the San Antonio Spurs, widely acknowledged as the best power forward of all time, one of the 50 greatest basketball players of all time, two-time MVP, four championship rings... Oh, and he has a degree in Psychology, loves Renaissance fairs, he's into Video Games, and he plays Dungeons and Dragons (and even has large tattoos of a dragon and a wizard on his back and chest).
  • His calming down and giving Blake Griffin a "my bad" rub on the head after an accidental shoulder collision? Proof he's a Nice Guy.
• NBA Centers and twin brothers Brook and Robin Lopez are both huge fans of Comics, Disneyland, and Michael Jackson. They can even be found at Comic Con.
• Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling plays war games and MMORPGs. Originally, Schilling planned to start an MMORPG company after his retirement from baseball; he wound up starting Green Monster Games (now 38 Studios) before he retired. Once, when Schilling used to pitch for Arizona, he was rocked for two homers in the same game by former teammate Doug Glanville. After the game Doug dedicated that beating to the memory of Bing-bong, his Ever Quest character that Schilling had left to die. Schilling has such a good relationship with Sony Online Entertainment that he asked them to add his likeness into Ever Quest 2 for a charity event. The developers agreed, and put his voice, face, and likeness into the game, complete with his jersey's number painted on his red armor. This very character would later become a permanent part of the game under the name of "Clint Gilcrush". He also founded the company Multi-Man Publishing specifically to keep his wargame of choice, Advanced Squad Leader, in print following Hasbro's purchase of Avalon Hill. The man is dedicated.
• 1996 #1 NFL draft pick and former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Marcus Jones, currently a mixed martial artist on season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter, is by his own admission "passionate" about Dungeons and Dragons and comic books. He also likes to garden, but that doesn't count.
• Former Australian cricket captain and now commentator Bill Lawry got the nickname "The Phantom" because he was a huge fan of the character, and kept a stash of Phantom comics in the team locker room.
• Josh Barnett, heavyweight MMA fighter, had Ai wo Torimodose as his entrance theme while he was working in PRIDE. He also made a statement after the match more along the lines of "My Hokuto Shinken will never be as good as Kenshiro's so I have to keep working on my Nanto Seiken."
• Lightweight Mixed Martial Artist Joe Lauzon has a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and used to be a Network Administrator. Also a fanatical Call of Duty player.
• Chicago Bears Linebaker Lance Briggs is a huge fan of comic books, especially of The Darkness, X-Men, Pitt, and Silver Surfer. A big enough fan that comic books are more or less all he talks about, though he tries to be discreet about his hobby. When asked which super hero he would be he just sighed, rolled his eyes and said: "Well, I wouldn't wear tights. I would have leadership qualities. I would love to be a mind reader. That would be my power. But no tights. A snug fit, but no tights. What color costume? You want to hear me say orange and blue. No, something dark. I would be strong, dark, macho. A medium build. I would wear a loose jacket, a contemporary costume. I am not a tights guy, man. You get caught in tights, and you cannot get out." The sign of a true comic book geek.
• Anaheim Ducks enforcer George Parros played college hockey at Princeton where he majored in economics and wrote his senior thesis on, get this, the West Coast longshoremen's labor dispute. He also played fantasy hockey and was really into video games (especially Final Fantasy and Street Fighter) while in college, really likes 80's hair metal, and watches a lot of Family Guy. Basically, he's the opposite of what one would think an enforcer would be.
• Shaquille O'Neal is a big Superman fan and has a tattoo of Superman's symbol. Presumably, this influenced his decision to do the Steel movie.
• Myron Rolle, American Football athlete and Rhodes Scholar.
• MMA fighter Shane Carwin has an engineering degree and continues to work in that field despite being a top ranked heavyweight.
• Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco was so eager to get his hands on an early copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops that he offered Bengals season tickets to anyone who could get it for him.
• New York Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia is a serious video game enthusiast. Recently, he warned against the dangers of haphazardly chucking small explosives in a PSA for one of his favorites.
• A number of professional race drivers play racing video games, either for training and/or for fun. Most commonly mentioned is Gran Turismo. Players include Tanner Foust (Formula Drift), Sebastian Loeb (WRC and Lemans), and Sebastian Vettel (Formula One).
• A growing number of the Arsenal squad, most notably Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and Jack Wilshere, are very keen gamers, especially of the FIFA series. Walcott even joked about what button Fabregas had pressed to pass to him to set him up to score against Chelsea during a live interview on Sky Sports.
• Arizona Cardinals/Kansas City Cheifs Wide Receiver Steve Breaston is a huge fan of comic books, he was even able to have a meeting with Todd McFarlane who lives in Arizona. He also writes poetry.
• Brek Shea of FC Dallas created an MLS Expansion team out of Pokémon
• Minnesota Vikings Punter Chris Kluwe is really into video games, most notably World of Warcraft. He is also the bassist in a Minnesota rock band called Tripping Icarus, and he posted a Hitler Rants video he made on YouTube relating to the NFL Lockout.