You'd think pro athletes would be content with their superior physical abilities when
reaching for the top.
But some athletes insist on achieving even greater success after sports.
These people were top-notch athletes and went on to even greater things.
Dwayne Johnson
Superstar Dwayne Johnson looks like the lovechild of a Greek god and an extremely charismatic
eyebrow.
And while he did play Hercules, he's just a super talented human.
An exceptional football player in high school and college, Johnson aspired to enter the
NFL and might have gotten there, if he hadn't been derailed by injury.
Instead, he played Canadian football before becoming a wrestler.
Johnson debuted in the WWE as Rocky Maivia, but he soon shined as "The
Rock," an electrifying loudmouth who constantly asked if people could smell what he was cooking.
He would go on to win 17 championships as the Rock during a Hall-of-Fame career.
In the early 2000s, Johnson exited the wrestling world to become the most electrifying man
in Hollywood.
After starring in a string of high-paying films, including Central Intelligence, Jumanji:
Welcome to the Jungle, and Skyscraper, Johnson's wallet bulged more than his biceps.
In 2018 Forbes dubbed him the highest-paid Hollywood actor.
It smells like The Rock is cookin' greenbacks.
"Hey, did you bring the cavalry?"
"Woman, I am the cavalry."
Jason Statham
No doubt about it, Jason Statham is a one-man buffet of cinematic violence.
The action star's credits include modern cult classics like Snatch, high-octane blockbusters
like the Fast and Furious sequels, and the bizarrely hilarious Crank.
But before he flooded the silver screen with punches and gruff charm, he was a competitive
diver.
Statham spent 12 years on Britain's National Diving Squad and even competed in the 1992
World Championships, where he placed 12th.
While that's a laudable accomplishment, the future actor didn't make as big of a splash
as he wanted.
In a 2016 interview, he admitted that it was a bit of a "sore point" that he never made
it to the Olympics.
Luckily, his movies have grossed over a billion dollars, so he's probably earned enough money
to buy an Olympic-sized swimming pool, dive in it, and award himself a gold medal.
George Foreman
In his heyday, "Big" George Foreman hit like a freight train.
After punching his way to Olympic gold in 1968, he racked up 40 straight wins, 37 of
them by knockout.
In 1973 he won the heavyweight championship by dominating Joe Frazier, the first boxer
to defeat Muhammad Ali.
Ali would then hand Foreman his first professional loss at the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle.
Foreman kept on punching, and at 45 years old he became the oldest heavyweight boxing
champion.
That's more than enough accomplishments for a single lifetime, but Foreman continued winning
outside the ring.
In 1994, the same year he made boxing history, he began endorsing electric grills.
At first he wasn't sold on the idea, but that changed in 1997 when he received his first
$1 million check.
He subsequently made out like a bandit, earning as much as $200 million between 1998 and 2010.
Vinnie Jones
When you hear "Vinnie Jones," you probably think of a gangster who rips out people's
teeth for fun, which pretty much describes the characters Jones tends to play.
But the intimidating Brit wasn't a real-life gangster as far as we know.
He was, however, a ruthless soccer player.
In matches, Jones committed vicious tackles and intentionally crashed into opponents.
One of his tackles may have even ended another player's career.
However, his most notorious offense was squeezing a rival's privates in the middle of a game.
Given his hard-earned reputation as one of soccer's "hard men," it makes perfect sense
that he's been consistently cast as stone-cold rump-kickers in films like Snatch and Gone
in 60 Seconds.
Basically, he's now famous for playing deadlier versions of himself on screen.
"I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!"
Arnold Schwarzenegger
In all likelihood, Arnold Schwarzenegger is secretly three people rolled into one.
How else do you explain the fact that he's had three distinctly different careers and
has succeeded at all of them?
He started out in bodybuilding, and by age 20 he became the youngest person ever to win
the Mr. Universe crown.
He went on to earn five Mr. Universe and seven Mr. Olympia titles, and he was just getting
started.
Schwarzenegger then became one of the biggest action movie stars of all time.
Along the way there were some epic stinkers, like the hilariously cheesy Hercules in New
York.
"Hiya fellas!"
"How ya doin'?"
"How ya doin'?
Hey, what's happening?"
"Is he your lover?"
"My what?"
But he would also bring us classics like The Terminator, Kindergarten Cop, and Total Recall.
Altogether his films have grossed over $3 billion.
"I have a headache."
"It might be a tumor."
"It's not a tumor.
It's not a tumor, at all."
But even after he become a screen icon, he wasn't done with reinvention.
In 2003 he became the governor of California, serving until 2011.
It makes sense that this is his famous catchphrase:
"I'll be back."
Because if there's one thing we learned about Arnold, it's that he's a man of his word.
"I'm back!"