10 Athletes Who Should Host "SNL"

When you’re chosen to host Saturday Night Live, you know you’ve become a household name. In the past, it’s been hosted by politicians, musicians, and (most appropriately) actors yearning to convince the world that they can be funny—provided somebody else writes their lines for them, of course. While athletes have also been involved in the mix, they’ve comprised a surprisingly small percentage of guest hosting slots.

Michael Jordan had his shot at it, as have both of the Manning brothers (to positive reviews, we might add), Charles Barkley, Derek Jeter, LeBron James,and a few others. It’s become a rite of passage for any athlete who fancies himself an entertainer off the field, court, or pitch. From there you can go on to great things—or disasters—but it’s always best to prep for the future because some day you will have to hang up the jersey. In fact, many guys on this list already have.

We can’t guarantee that they’d all be great, but we wouldn’t mind seeing them get the call. Here are 10 Athletes Who Should Host SNL.

When you’re 7’2” there are probably not a whole lot of roles out there for you. But if Parks and Recreation can write you in (even if you’re playing yourself), then a show that can justify just about any sketch at any time shouldn’t have much of a problem.

If this Jimmy Kimmel prank was any indication, then we believe Metta World Peace has the chops to be a player on Team SNL. The professional basketball player formerly known as Ron Artest has always been amusing, and a controlled setting like SNL could be the perfect spot for him to show off what he’s really about.

We’re not sure how well trash talkers would translate to live performances of sketch comedy, but since we’re merely casting hypothetical agents we’re fine with throwing any name out there without fear of ruining the long running, 40-year-old series. Sonnen might pester some people—arguably his biggest talent—but it’s good because we love awkward moments. Plus, it’d be nice to see if he can follow a script better than he can back up his pre-fight mouth.

To date, Aaron Rodgers is the only person on this list who has actually appeared alongside iconic characters from the show, doing so in a State Farm ad that was released earlier this year. And even though Hans and Franz hadn’t graced our screens in two decades, the duo-turned-trio made us nostalgic for a bygone era. Let’s get them to 30 Rock, stat.

As a White Sox fan I loved Ozzie Guillen’s interviews because he separated himself from the over-the-top clichés that are so pervasive in the world of sports. Aside from that, he was actually legitimately funny—which also separated him from his contemporaries. Sure he’s well past his prime, but it’s no coincidence that more people started thinking “baseball” and “boring” were synonymous right after Ozzie got fired from the Florida Marlins.

Everybody follows somebody on Twitter who fills their timeline with surprisingly witty one-liners. Then you meet that person in person and they often disappoint. It’s possible that that’s how Joel Embiid would end up, but his tweets have sure made us curious about his SNL potential.

Long before people started taking trash talk too seriously (see: Richard Sherman), the NFL’s king of the stigmatized skill was Chad Johnson, a man who legally had his name changed to a Spanish interpretation of the number “85.” When I first heard it, I very briefly chuckled before telling myself “that’s probably way more trouble than it’s worth.” Still, it let me know that Johnson was dedicated to doing anything for a cheap laugh. So SNL is obviously a natural fit here.

We’re actually kind of surprised that Shaq hasn’t already hosted the show considering the fact that he seemingly auditioned for it during every interview of his entire career. Maybe he just wanted to go out on a high note after appearing in one great sketch with Tracy Morgan back in 1998. Unfair, Shaq. Sketch comedy needs more Diesel and his monotone delivery.

Since the dawn of theatre the human race has seen its fair share of comedic duos: Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, and, of course, Kenan and Kel. We’re not going to go out on a limb and suggest that Blake and CP would be in that same class, but if there’s a duo in sports today that could potentially stack up it’s them. Considering the fact that they’ve already built a fairly extensive resume (including the pair hocking Jordans with the gift of humor, as well as Griffin taking the stage at an open mic night and interning at Funny or Die) we’d say that they are already much more qualified than several past hosts, including Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton and, well, you get the picture.

When Mike Tyson was in his prime, he was unwittingly entertaining. Getting angry about everything, while messing up almost every time, he used an expression (“fade into Bolivian,” anyone?), which made him hilarious even if he wasn’t intending to be. Then he kicked the crap out of Don King, dropped the “Baddest Man on the Planet” shtick, and embraced self-parody. This led to a cameo in The Hangover, a one-man show on Broadway, and a recently released cartoon. Let’s get this man to Studio 8H.