Funny On The Field: Here Are 12 Comedians with Strong Ties To Sports

Comedians have a knack for getting involved in the sports world. Some started out as athletes themselves and others got involved later in their career. The sports industry has invited comedians time and time again to be commentators. This has especially been prevalent in the Olympics due to NBC’s ratings drop. Comedian commentators have provided for some of the funniest and most entertaining sports casting. And some comedians are just really fun and entertaining to watch in their athletic element when they’re not on the stage or screen. In honor of the ongoing 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, here’s a look at 12 comedians with strong ties to sports.

Before being cast for MADtv’s 13th season and becoming a stand-up comedian, Anjelah Johnson Reyes was a successful Oakland Raiders Cheerleader, winning Rookie of the Year and performing at Super Bowl XXXVII.

Kelsey Cook was born into an athletic family, but not in the way you might think. Her dad was an International Yo-Yo Champion and her mom was a professional foosball player. Cook picked up her mom’s “wrists of fury” and became a World Champion foosball player herself.

While people know him better as the football coach turned futbol manager Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis actually has a background in basketball, playing for a year in college at Fort Scott Community College.

Shane Gillis also was a student athlete but as an offensive tackle for the Elon University football team. His ties to football eventually led to his participation in a Dallas Cowboys 2024 schedule release hype video. Gillis is also an avid Phillies fan, frequenting the baseball team's games.

NBC has been pooling their talent from Saturday Night Live to help boost the Olympics and Kenan Thompson is the newest addition to that. Kevin Hart has also been enlisted after the highly successful 2021 show, Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg although this time it is, Olympic Highlights With Kevin Hart and Kenan Thompson. The pair has been providing this year’s summer Olympics highlights with their own colorful and hilarious commentary.

The Saturday Night Live pipeline continues with Colin Jost commentating the surfing competition at the Olympics satellite location in Teahupo’o, Tahiti. While this may seem like a random choice, Jost is actually an avid surfer so this gig is really a dream come true. The Weekend Update Host, although currently suffering an injury from a tussle with some coral, says he is, “honored to get to watch the best surfers in the world compete on one of the heaviest waves imaginable.”

Leslie Jones may have led the procession of SNL cast members to the Olympic commentating crew. Jones, like Sudeikis and Gillis, was a college athlete, playing basketball for Chapman University. Much later Jones was offered a job to commentate for NBC in the 2016 Olympics at Rio de Janeiro, covering swimming, track and field, gymnastics, and beach volleyball. After many fans enjoying Jones’ hilarious commentary, she was asked back for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. She was again brought back in a lighter role for these 2024 Olympics as she has a segment where Katie Ledecky offers her some tips for competitive swimming.

The Las Culturistas hosts, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang have started a podcast centered around the Olympics in partnership with NBC. This expansion of NBC’s Olympic content is an extension of the SNL to Olympic commenting pipeline with Yang cohosting. Rogers and Yang also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live in what appear to be the spandex USA rowing uniforms to promote the new podcast and effectively adding onto the NBC Olympic media tour.

Known for his tendency to don XXL basketball shorts which led to him being named the 2021 Vogue fashion icon, Adam Sandler has more than just attire in common with basketball. The SNL alum frequents Knicks games, supports many basketball related charities, and regularly participates in celebrity basketball games. Even in his free time he can be seen shooting hoops with Timothee Chalamet in a NYC pick up game. He even starred in the 2022 basketball dramedy Hustle on Netflix.

Deadpool and Mac from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia notoriously bought a low level UK football team, Wrexham A.F.C. despite neither being from anywhere near Wales. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s investment has brought new life to the club and the city as shown in the FX documentary, Welcome to Wrexham which follows the stars and their team as they seek promotion.

Jonny Loquasto has been bringing his hilarious commentary to the sports world through his online presence. When he finally got to broadcast for the WWE, fellow comedian and friend Rachel Feinstein commented how excited she was for him to fulfill a dream he had voiced to her years ago, officially adding sports commentator to his job title (in fact it's the first title listed in his IMDB bio).

When you first hear the news that Aubrey Plaza tore her ACL at a WNBA game you think it'sits one of the actor’s practical jokes but Plaza really did sustain a knee injury. Plaza was playing a hardy game of knockout at the Mercury practice facility when the tear happened. Though her first reportedly occurred during a women's recreational league game in Los Angeles but sources are mixed on whether it was for the 2016 documentary "The Pistol Shrimps”or when she disguised herself with a wig so she could play on the same team as her sister.

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