The best athlete TV cameos from the 21st century

New Girl had some of the best celebrity cameos, period (the Prince episode, anyone?). But among those great cameos was JJ Watt’s appearance. In the episode, Watt visited his former agent’s home after his death — the same agent Jess was dating, unaware he was in a relationship. Watt’s cameo peaked when he sang passionately about stadium food. A great cameo, indeed. 

There’s a trope among athletes making guest appearances in television shows to be the coach of a youth sport, but it’s all too often as a legitimate part instead of a cameo. Billie Jean King made the best use of that trope and acted as herself to be Emery’s tennis coach in Fresh Off the Boat. 

For a show not even remotely about sports (unless you count sports as recreation), Parks and Recreation sure featured a slew of professional athletes. For Andy’s bachelor party, the guys went to the Colts' stadium to meet some players, and Mr. Dwyer had the honor of telling Reggie Wayne he wore his jersey at his wedding and catching a touchdown pass from Andrew Luck. 

No television programming has done more for the Indianapolis Colts than Parks and Recreation , aside from their televised games, of course. Adam Vinatieri and Anthony Castonzo appeared on a star-studded episode of the sitcom, which featured return cameos from Andrew Luck and Reggie Wayne, except these two were notified by Tom Haverford that he wouldn’t be doing any physical activity. 

Robert Mathis appeared in the same episode featuring Reggie Wayne, Andrew Luck, Adam Vinatieri, and Anthony Castonzo. He was rejected by everybody’s favorite Benz driver and cousin of Ginuwine, Donna Meagle, who succinctly told Ben Wyatt, “Skill positions only for Donna Meagle” as her rationale for turning him down. Respect. 

Several members of the NBA have had their turn on Parks and Recreation, particularly during Tom Haverford’s e720 era, but among the best was Detleft Schrempf. He worked briefly at Tom’s entertainment company, where he commented on how little Tom and Jean Ralphio knew about running a business. Excellent cameo. 

Roy Hibbert graced the set of Parks and Recreation a couple of times throughout the series. First, he was an employee of e720, where he tried to give Tom Haverford financial advice, then he paid for everybody but Tom when he ran into the guys at a restaurant, clearly stating that Tom owed him a lot of money. 

Another NBA player to be featured on Parks and Rec , Chris Bosh played a team member for the Eagleton high school basketball team and dunked on one of Pawnee’s woefully untalented players. Apparently, Aubrey Plaza was excited to meet Bosh as she’s a huge fan, but a prank she played on him behind the scenes didn’t go over so well. 

John Cena’s acting career has been so lucrative it’s easy to forget he began as an athlete. The professional wrestler appeared on one of the last episodes of Parks and Recreation during Andy’s television show. Andy fanboyed as much as anyone would meeting Cena, then proceeded to handcuff him for stealing his character’s guitar. 

LeBron James is no stranger to a Hollywood set now, but back before he was the living legend he is now, the Lakers star made a cameo on an episode of Entourage. It was one of James’ first acting experiences, and we like to think it helped give him the confidence to eventually star in Space Jam: A New Legacy. 

Many compare LeBron James’s career to Michael Jordan’s, but when looking at it through a television lens, his career is more akin to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The former all-time NBA scorer has made many a television cameo, most recently on Dave, where the eponymous character got to meet the basketball great. 

Shawn Johnson’s cameo on The Secret Life of the American Teenager goes down as one of the best because it was so bad. Johnson is as bad at acting as she is incredible at gymnastics, but that was by far the most forgivable part of her scene. Her interaction with Daren Kagasoff’s character ended with him inexplicably cartwheeling in the hallway. We wish we could say that was the strangest thing to happen on that show. 

How I Met Your Mother was set in New York City, so naturally, the show had a Yankee make a cameo. Nick Swisher was just trying to hang out in the bar when the gang approached him to get his input on whether it’s weird for a married couple to share a toothbrush. For the record, Swisher thought it was sweet. 

Former football players Thierry Henry and Gary Lineker made multiple cameos on Ted Lasso, but the most notable was an episode that started with Coach Beard being berated by the commentators and, in true Ted Lasso fashion, ended with them cheersing the American football coach. 

Peyton Manning has acted in plenty of projects, but his cameos are where he truly shines. The former NFL player took to Saturday Night Live to provide commentary on playoff games, but he quickly revealed he was unable to do so as he got caught up binge-watching Emily in Paris over the weekend. We stan a relatable football player. 

Modern Family was one of those rare shows that could’ve gotten a cameo from anyone it wanted, and it did. One of the earlier episodes featured an appearance from none other than Kobe Bryant. The late basketball GOAT reminded Phil it’s all a mental game after he asked Bryant if he likes being a basketball player. Fantastic writing. 

David Beckham made his Modern Family appearance with sitcom royalty Courteney Cox. The writers took the opportunity to remind us that even professional athletes have certain sports they excel at, with Cox making a joke about Beckham’s poor bowling performance at a prior fundraiser. 

Given the show’s premise, it’s fitting there were so many NFL player cameos on The League. But just before Matt Forte’s great appearance on the show, he was injured, just like several other players who had bad luck around the time they were on the series, fueling the theory that The League was an NFL player curse. 

Few people are as naturally hilarious as Marshawn Lynch. The football player known for actively avoiding talking made a cameo on Brooklyn Nine-Nine as a witness to a crime who saw nothing and proceeded to ramble to Captain Holt and Detective Diaz, the latter of whom formerly idolized him for his taciturn demeanor. Great use of Lynch’s natural personality. 

Murderville , an underrated Netflix show, was a star-studded affair. Among the celebrities featured were Sharon Stone, Ken Jeong, Conan O’Brien, and, of course, Marshawn Lynch. The former running back liked the show so much that he told O’Brien in a later interview that it was the only cameo of his he rewatched.