All this week on NBC Sports Network, we’re getting treated to athlete-hosted episodes of Saturday Night Live, and there are quite a few classics: Peyton Manning, Derek Jeter, anytime The Rock stopped by, and of course, there’s Michael Jordan in 1991.
So I put together a list of some of the all-time great skits starring athletes — the real ones, not the imitated Shaq and Chuck or David Ortiz or Serena Williams — and I limited it to what I could find on YouTube, despite the fact that NBC has them all in its archives. So it’s not the GOAT athlete skits, but 10 of the greatest anyway.
10. Wayne Gretzky, Anal Retentive Fishing, 1989
Gretzky really committed here!
9. Charles Barkley and Muggsy Bogues with Stuart Smalley, 1993
Watching Barkley break in SNL skits is a time-honored tradition.
8. Barkley’s Bank, 2010
Just the punchline about the money managers was good.
7. Tom Brady vs. “Peyton Manning” and “Donovan McNabb,” 2005
Keenan Thompson as McNabb’s mom is funny.
6. The Rock’s monologue, 2000
Mostly because other WWE stars and Vince McMahon join in.
5. JJ Watt records for Madden 21, 2020
“DANG IT! HE OUTSMARTED ME!”
4. Derek Jeter on Weekend Update, 2001
Red Sox fan Seth Meyers probably didn’t have to stretch to do this one.
3. Peyton Manning dances, 2007
Will Forte as a basketball coach does an amazing job getting down to Herb Albert’s Casino Royale, but Manning’s moves are pretty amazing too.
2. Michael Jordan and Stuart Smalley, 1991
Watching Jordan almost break while staring in the mirror put this one over the top.
1. Peyton Manning with United Way, 2007
Pitch perfect from the moment he smacks a kid with a football to the tattoo.
