NFL Players Turned Hollywood Stars Quiz

Answer: Terry Crews

Terry Crews was born in Flint, Michigan and attended Western Michigan University on a athletic, as well as an art, scholarship. He was drafted by the LA Rams in the 11th round of the 1991 NFL draft. He played in the NFL until he retired in 1997. During his career, he also played for the Redskins, Eagles and Chargers. Crews plays President Camacho, who is the leader of the US 500 years into the future.

The collective intelligence of the people has gone down in the time set in the movie and the world is in danger of starvation.

In "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" he plays Sgt. Jeffords, who is the lovable sergeant in charge of the detectives in the 99th precinct. In addition to his TV and movie roles, he did star in a series of rather humorous Old Spice TV ads. Luke Wilson also appeared in "Idiocracy" but was not an NFL player. Alex Karras was an NFL player-turned actor, but did not appear in either of the mentioned shows. Dirk Blocker plays Detective Hitchcock in "Brooklyn Nine-Nine".

Answer: Carl Weathers

After graduating from San Diego State University, Weathers played for the Oakland Raiders for two seasons, then for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League until he retired in 1974. His breakout performance was as Rocky's opponent Apollo Creed in "Rocky" (1976).

He reprised his role in "Rocky II" (1979), "Rocky III" (1982) and "Rocky IV" (1985). He has performed in many shows since, but he also appeared in one movie with two future governors. He appeared in the movie "Predator" (1987) alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jesse Ventura, who were later governors of California and Minnesota respectively.

He played Dillon, one of a team of commandos sent by the CIA on what they thought was a mission to rescue a helicopter crew, but they soon find out that they have been mislead.

They are actually being hunted by an alien creature. Lyle Alzado was a Raider and actor, but he did not appear in "Rocky". Merlin Olsen did not appear in "Rocky", but was a NFL player turned actor. Dolph Lundgren did face Rocky in the movie "Rocky IV", but was not an NFL player.

Answer: Fred Dryer

Dryer graduated from San Diego State University and was drafted in the first round of the 1969 NFL draft by the New York Giants. In 1973 while playing for the LA Rams, he entered the NFL record book by becoming the first (and as of 2018) and only person to record two safeties in one game.

He retired in 1981 after appearing in 176 games. He was considered for the role of Sam Malone in "Cheers" (1982-1993) that eventually went to Ted Danson. He was then cast in his most famous role as Sgt Rick Hunter in the NBC series "Hunter". Hunter was a homicide detective who was known to bend the rules to get his suspect and often went undercover with his partner. Jason Lee is a professional skateboarder turned actor. Tommy Lee Jones played football at Harvard but was not in the NFL. Don Johnson is an actor known for "Miami Vice" (1984-1990), but was not an NFL player.

Answer: Merlin Olsen

Olsen began his highly decorated NFL career as a first round draft choice out of Utah State University by the Los Angeles Rams. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 14 of the 15 years that he played. He is also a member of both the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame.

He played Jonathan Garvey, who was a close friend of the Ingalls, the main characters in the series, that is set in a Midwest community in the late 1800s. In addition to his previously mentioned roles, he also served as a color commentator for NBC's NFL coverage. Dan Fouts was a NFL quarterback and a color commentator. Lou Ferrigno was a bodybuilder in addition to being the Incredible Hulk. Ted Danson is best known for his role as Sam Malone from the series "Cheers"(1982-1993).

Answer: Alex Karras

Karras was drafted in the first round of the 1958 NFL draft out of Iowa by the Detroit Lions. His career spanned from 1958-1970. He was suspended for one season by the NFL along with Paul Hornung for placing bets on NFL games. He was named to 4 Pro Bowl teams, as well as the NFL's 1960 All Decade Team.

He appeared in many roles, but is probably best known for playing the father in the series "Webster" (1983-1989); he played a retired football player who adopted the son of a teammate who has passed away leaving him an orphan.

In "Blazing Saddles" he played a big brute of a man named Mongo that rode into town on a bull. In a memorable scene he punched a horse, knocking it out. Gene Wilder also starred in "Blazing Saddles" but was not a NFL player. Cleavon Little starred in "Blazing Saddles" and was a Tony Award winning Broadway actor but was not in the NFL. Dick Butkus was a great NFL player but did not appear in "Blazing Saddles", even though I believe he could have also knocked out the poor horse.

Answer: Howie Long

After being a second round draft choice out of Villanova in 1981, Long played his entire career with the Raiders. His football honors include: NFL defensive player of the year, 8 time Pro Bowler, and being named to the 1980's NFL All Decade Team. He had roles in a few action movies such as "Broken Arrow" before becoming one of the studio analysts for Fox Network's NFL Coverage.

In "Broken Arrow" (1996) he played Kelly, a member of the Air Force Search and Rescue team sent to investigate the crash of a stealth bomber carrying nuclear weapons.

He ended up being paid to help the pilot, played by John Travolta, steal the 2 nuclear weapons. Ken Stabler played quarterback for the Raiders, but never caught the acting bug. Dean Cain played football at Princeton, however, a knee injury ended his NFL hopes. Christian Slater co-starred in "Broken Arrow" and has been acting since landing his first television role when hew as 8 years old.

Answer: Jim Brown

Brown was a stand-out in football and lacrosse at Syracuse University, and was drafted in the first round of the 1957 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. By the time of his retirement in 1965 he was the all time leading rusher in the NFL, although his record has since been broken.

His football honors include: being named to the Pro Bowl 9 times, NFL rookie of the year and being named to the NFL's 75th anniversary all time team. Brown played Jefferson, a soldier in prison for killing a man in self defense but sentenced to hang, who was given the opportunity to earn a pardon by volunteering for a dangerous mission behind Nazi lines. Jefferson did not survive the mission but was given a posthumous pardon. Savalas, Cassavetes and Marvin all appeared in "The Dirty Dozen", but only Brown set NFL records.

Answer: Ed Marinaro

Marinaro led the nation in rushing in 1970 & 1971 while playing at Cornell. He was then drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings. He played 6 years in the NFL before retiring. He made a name for himself by playing Officer Joe Coffey in "Hill Street Blues" (1981-1986). During the first season the character was to be killed in a vehicle stop, but producers later changed their minds and he returned for the rest of the series.

More recently he appeared on Spike's TV comedy "Blue Mountain State" (2010-2011), in which he played Marty Daniels, the head football coach for a fictional university. Spano did have a longstanding role in "Hill Street Blues", but he never made the NFL. Tony Dorsett is a record-setting running back; he is not known as an actor.

While Bo Jackson is a talented man, he has not been a regular on television.

Answer: OJ Simpson

After winning the Heisman Trophy at USC, he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the first pick in the 1969 NFL draft. His many career highlights include being named the NFL's most valuable player in 1973. Brown played Detective Nordberg in the "Naked Gun" series of three movies in 1988, 1991 and 1994. Nordberg was the unlucky partner of the main character who end up with multiple painful injuries that should have killed him.

These injuries put him out of action, causing his partner to have to do all the work.

He was considered for the role of the Terminator in the 1984 movie of the same name, but studio execs didn't think that people could picture him as a killer. He shared screen time with LAPD detectives while he was being tried for the murder of his wife and Ron Goldman. Mark Harmon played quarterback at UCLA before becoming an NCIS special agent. Mike Garrett played running back at USC, but after his football career he joined the administrative side of the game, becoming a collegiate athletic director. Barry Sanders won a Heisman Trophy but is enjoying his retirement years by staying out of the limelight.

Answer: Bubba Smith

After graduating from Michigan State, Smith was drafted with the first pick of the 1967 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts. Smith played in 111 games over his career including 2 Super Bowls. His Colts lost to the Jets in Super bowl III but beat the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

He played Moses Hightower, a very large man that happened to be a florist before attending the police academy. He played Hightower in "Police Academy" (1984) through "Police Academy 6 City Under Siege" (1989). He also starred, along with many other former NFL players, in a series of commercials for Miller Lite Beer. Al Cowlings was a defensive end, but he is best known for his role as the driver of the white bronco in O. J. Simpson's famous low speed pursuit after the murder of his wife. Steve Austin attended the University of North Texas on a football scholarship, but never played in the NFL. Mike Ditka has had brief appearances in a few television series; he is better known, however, for being a color commentator for NFL games after his playing and coaching career ended.