Every athlete who has hosted 'Saturday Night Live'

If we told you the first athlete to host “SNL” was a quarterback in the ‘70s, you might guess Joe Namath. After all, he was a true celebrity, and he played in New York to boot. Instead, it was the Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton who received the honor. To be fair, he did spend some time as the quarterback of the Giants, though he was with the Vikings when he hosted.

Um, well, this is awkward. Yes, at the time Simpson was a big star, and he did have an acting career. Clearly, he liked to act, and he did a lot of comedy. Of course, that’s largely forgotten now, for obvious reasons. Let’s just move on.

Two legendary “SNL” hosts were among the first four hosts of the fifth season: Steve Martin and Buck Henry. Also hosting early that season? Eric Idle of Monty Python fame. The other guy hosting, though? That would be Celtics legend Bill Russell. He was long retired by this point — he started playing in the ‘50s after all — but he still was the first basketball player to host “SNL.”

Madden is known more for being a coach than a player. Actually, he’s known more for being an announcer than a coach at this point. Well, now that we think about it, he’s probably best known now for his eponymous video game series. Once upon a time, though, the Raiders coach was known as the guy hosting “Saturday Night Live.”

This one makes total sense. Uecker is known more as a personality than as a baseball player. Few people remember him catching for the Brewers, but everybody recalls his acting work in movies like “Major League” and shows like “Mr. Belvedere.” The longtime announcer, frankly, had more comedy chops than he had hitting chops.

By 1985 Karras had established himself as an actor, having retired from the NFL many years earlier and had already been in films like “MASH” and, in his most famous role, “Blazing Saddles.” While “Saturday Night Live” tapped him as host because he was an actor, Karras had a Hall of Fame football career, so he still counts.

A few episodes after Karras hosted, two living cartoon characters joined forces to host “SNL.” Obviously, each of these two could have shouldered the load solo — and not just because they both had giant shoulders — but it wasn’t terribly uncommon back in the day to have co-hosts. Hogan and Mr. T both had significant acting careers, if not always good. In fact, Mr. T is basically only known for his acting, though that includes playing Clubber Lang in “Rocky III.”

Fun fact: Originally, “Saturday Night Live” wasn’t called “Saturday Night Live.” That’s because there was already a show with that name. It was hosted by Cosell, though obviously it didn’t last too long. The famous, and famously cantankerous, announcer eventually would host the show that took the name of his failed show and road it to glory for decades.

Martin, the infamous manager of the New York Yankees, didn’t have to host the show solo. He was sharing the duties with the actress Anjelica Huston. That made sense. Huston could handle the acting and what have you. Martin was there as a New York legend who could play off his image to get a few laughs.

While Montana and Payton didn’t play together, they were both superstars. Montana is arguably one of the five best quarterbacks in NFL history, and Sweetness is almost certainly a top-five running back. Not wanting to make either of them have to host solo, “SNL” decided to team these two up. Hopefully football fans at least had fun.

Gretzky is the greatest hockey player ever. He’s not necessarily known for having a great personality, though. Do you remember Gretzky ever making you laugh? Well, did you see the Great One hosting “SNL” in 1989? If you did then…um, you may still not necessarily remember him making you laugh.

Evert and Martina Navratilova had one of the best rivalries in tennis history. However, Navratilova felt like a tennis machine, and Evert was the one people felt had personality and glamour, making her seem more like a celebrity. As such, it’s not surprising that Evert is the one who got the chance to host and is in fact the only women’s tennis player to host “SNL.”

“Saturday Night Live” is filmed in New York, and sometimes that is painfully obvious. Like, say, when the show decided to have George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees, host. The man liked to make himself the center of attention, and while he had no business acting in a sketch show, it’s not surprising that Steinbrenner jumped at the chance to get some screen time. Sadly, Larry David didn’t provide his voice like on “Seinfeld.”

In 1991, Jordan was still in his ascendancy as a player. In fact, this was just after he and the Bulls had won their first title. It was years before MJ would star in “Space Jam.” If you saw “Space Jam,” though, you know that Jordan can’t quite act on the level that he plays basketball.

Barkley is the first athlete on this list to host multiple times. In fact, he’s only one of two athletes to have multiple hosting gigs and the only “true” athlete. The Round Mound of Rebound is as known for his personality, and a lot of people love his work in studio on TNT. While he can’t really act, he seems like he was having fun hosting “SNL.”

There was a brief period of time when Kerrigan was one of the biggest names in sports. Granted, it wasn’t for the best of reasons. This was two months after Kerrigan had been hit in the leg in an attempt to injure her, an incident stemming from her rivalry with Tonya Harding. Fortunately Kerrigan was able to skate at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and she also she got a hosting gig out of it.

Foreman is the only boxer on this list. Somewhat miraculously, just before this Foreman had beaten Michael Moorer for two heavyweight title belts despite being almost 46 years old. That made Foreman one of the hottest things in sports at the time, and “SNL” has a habit of trying to strike while the iron is hot.

Sanders loved the spotlight. In his dreams, he would have been an even bigger star off the field. He tried his hand at a music career, which didn’t take off, and neither did acting. His charisma did get him a chance to do some sketch comedy at least. It didn’t lead to much more beyond that, but "Neon Deion" can still rest on his laurels as a Hall of Fame player.

"The Rock" is the king of the athlete hosts! He’s done it a whopping five times and, honestly, probably isn’t finished. The first time Johnson hosted, he was still primarily known as a WWE wrestler. It went surprisingly well, though. Given that, it’s not surprising that he’s now maybe one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Well, maybe that’s a little surprising.

Jeter is beloved in New York, so it was inevitable he would host “Saturday Night Live.” This episode also came relatively soon after 9/11, when the show, and the country, was focusing on New York. The Captain, who was just voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, almost unanimously, has this hosting gig under his belt as well. Unfortunately for him, it came just about a month after the Yankees lost the World Series.

Moseley may be the most puzzling name on this list; we’ll forgive you for not remembering him. His time in the sun was brief, as he was a skier who competed at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics. However, at the 2002 Olympics he finished fourth. And yet he got to host “SNL” just after that. He would go on to host another show, namely “Real World/Road Rules Challenge.”

Hey, a race car driver! And surprisingly it’s not Danica Patrick. Instead, it’s Gordon, who had a more successful career than Patrick on the track, even if he’s less of a celebrity. He was the biggest star in NASCAR during his peak, though, and appeared in commercials and stuff. Gordon is now a commentator for some races, so clearly he doesn’t mind being in the public eye.

Roddick had the misfortune of having his prime coincide with the careers of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, Roddick was the biggest American tennis star of his era, and “Saturday Night Live” is an American show. That was good enough to get him a chance to host. This was before he began dating, and eventually married, the model and actress Brooklyn Decker, making him an even bigger celebrity.

To think that Brady has been around long enough that he already had multiple Super Bowl rings by the time he hosted “SNL,” and he’s won several more since. He’s a great player, though he’s not always known for having the greatest personality or sense of humor. That being said, he’s also usually game to have some fun, and he gave it his all on “SNL.” There were a couple of memorable sketches, even if “SNL” took it easy on him, as the show often does with athlete hosts.

Well this one hasn’t aged well either, though not as bad as O.J. Armstrong’s dominance of the Tour de Force made Americans care about cycling and made a guy who rides bicycles for a living a huge celebrity. Of course, seven years after this the USADA came down hard on Armstrong for doping and for running a massive doping ring. His reputation is now tarnished. He won’t get another chance to host.

A lot of people put Peyton up there with Barkley as the best of the athlete hosts — not counting Johnson because he’s an actor now — even though he has hosted only once. You may have felt like he hosted more than that, though, because he got a few memorable sketches out of it. People particularly seem fond of the bit where he angrily throws footballs at children, which is well within his wheelhouse.

LeBron has had dreams of global superstardom for years, and he’s made it a reality. In addition to being the best basketball player of his generation, he has a media empire and multiple appearances in movies and TV shows. People say he stole the show in the movie “Trainwreck,” and he’s going to be starring in the new “Space Jam.” Before all that, he tested his comedy chops hosting “Saturday Night Live,” and he did a solid job. His comedy skills have gotten better since.

“Saturday Night Live” likes an Olympic athlete. This is true in regard to hosting and also for some cameos along the way. You may remember when Kerri Strug showed up for a cameo after her Olympics glory. Phelps is a legendary swimmer, but he was not the best “SNL” host. He has to settle for being the best swimmer ever.

Peyton hosted, and then Eli got his chance. Hey, he was the quarterback of the Giants, so that makes extra sense for the New York show. Like his older brother, Eli likes to joke around a bit — even if he’s not all over State Farm ads with Brad Paisley — but he doesn’t quite have the same panache for comedy. We’re still waiting for Cooper to get his turn.

After Rousey became an MMA superstar, she decided to try and dip her toe into the world of acting. However, it was mostly of the action movie variety. There was talk she would star in a “Road House” reboot that never happened. The acting, and the sketch comedy, didn’t really work out, so she turned her attention to professional wrestling instead. That seems to be more her speed.

Speaking of professional wrestling, Cena is trying to follow Dwayne Johnson’s path from being a pro wrestling star to a movie star. He’s not quite there yet, but like the erstwhile Rock he’s shown that he can handle doing comedy. Sure, a lot of the comedy done with Cena on “SNL” was of the old standby “it’s incongruous that a big muscle man is doing this thing” variety, but he has some chops.

Watt is the most-recent athlete to try his hand at hosting “Saturday Night Live.” While he’s not the biggest star in football, he is a known name. Plus, the then-Texans defensive lineman (now with the Cardinals) has shown he has an interest in performing. He played himself multiple times on “The League” and also in an episode of “New Girl.” Also, he and his brothers hosted that weird tag show. Remember that?