Amongst the famous athletes in the world such as superstars including Lebron James, Christiano Ronaldo, and Patrick Mahomes, some athletes are lesser known but still are loved by the sports community. Growing up as a Boston sports fan, I’ve always idolized guys like Tom Brady and David Ortiz, but I pride myself on my random, yet favorite athletes. “What is random?”, you may ask. In my eyes, a random favorite athlete is a guy who isn’t a superstar or a high-paid player, but a guy who plays his role well or is loved by his community. Swifties, TRAVIS KELCE IS NOT RANDOM!!!!!!!! (Talking to you, Hannah.) Just because you’ve only heard of him as a result of him dating your glorious queen Taylor Swift doesn’t make him a nobody. It’s not Travis’s fault he’s living in the shadows of his girlfriend. My knack for loving role players or lesser-known athletes gave me the idea to see what the Academic Magnet community considers their favorite “random” athlete.
My Favorite Athletes
Marcus Smart
This is my favorite NBA player no matter where he goes. I’ve grown up IDOLIZING his defensive prowess and his leadership in the locker room. I own both a Celtics and Grizzlies Smart jersey, and I watch all his highlights from games. No matter where he is, Marcus Smart is forever the definition of a Celtic.
Jarren Duran
His first two years in the league were rough… and that’s an understatement. Every time the fan base was screaming for ownership to send him back down, I defended him, and boy, was I right. Duran just came off his breakout year hitting .295 with thirty-four doubles. His glove is outstanding and at least half of his doubles came from him hustling out what would be a single for most players. How could you not love Big Swole!?
Ian Schiefflin
While not professional, Ian Schiefflin is my favorite college basketball by far. While very goofy, he’s one of the most fundamentally sound and hardest-working players I’ve ever seen in Littlejohn Coliseum. Without his defense and rebounding, Clemson would be nowhere near the team they are. He’s averaging 7.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, but his game goes way deeper than his stats, and Clemson is 7-0 with him and center PJ Hall as its backbone.
Magnet’s Favorite Athletes!
JR Smith- Wyatt Mahoney
Wyatt is an avid Cavaliers fan and his favorite player from the championship roster not named Lebron or Kyrie is JR “Hennygod” Smith. Wyatt liked his ability to go out on the court and get straight buckets. No passing. No defense. Just straight buckets. Wyatt also likes his celebrations on the court. After his retirement, JR became a collegiate golfer at North Carolina A&T, which Wyatt says is “fire.”
Lia Cathrine Thomas- Logan Burns
Logan says Lia is his favorite athlete because she is the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA D1 National Championship.
Clint Capela- Benjamin Brock
Ben is a big Hawks fan so this makes plenty of sense. Ben says Capela “plays for the most likable team in the NBA. He is also criminally underrated (walking double-double) and he seems like a nice guy.” Ben I would not say that Capela plays for the most “likable” team in the NBA, but Capela is a rather cool favorite player to have.
Kyle Guy- Isaac Chery
After hitting one of the biggest shots in recent March Madness history, Kyle Guy was the star on that National Championship UVA team. While not successful in the NBA, his story is a great one, and he lives forever in collegiate sports history books. Isaac says he likes Kyle Guy because he remembers watching the National Championship when UVA won, and because Guy has a “Leg sleeve and his man bun was drip.”.
Jaime Jaquez Jr- Erik Gonzalez
Erik says Jaquez Jr is his favorite player because he is a “Mexican baller” which is an awesome reason for Jaquez to be your favorite player. He should end up being a very solid role player in Miami.
Jeremy Sochan- Burton McCulley
Burton’s favorite player is Jeremy Sochan from the Spurs. After a pretty impressive rookie season, Sochan caught Burton’s eye. She got to watch the Lakers play against the Spurs in the Staples Center, where her brother yelled at her because she was cheering for Sochan and the Spurs rather than the home team Lakers. In the hallway, I corrected Burton’s pronunciation of Sochan’s last name which prompted her to say,
“I need to know how to pronounce my future last name correctly.”
Very wishful thinking Burton, hope things between you and Jeremy work out!
David Montgomery- Armando Reyes
Montgomery is definitely underrated, prior to all his injuries he was one of, if not the best, running backs in terms of yards after contact. Armando claims he “always can trust him to score a TD in fantasy” and he’s the “most consistent player.”
Jakob Poeltl- Andrew Spann
Andrew, I’m also a fan of Jakob Poeltl and he is a big part of my fantasy basketball team. Andrew says Poeltl is his favorite because “he is Jakob Poeltl.” Great insight Andrew!!!
Magnus Carlsen and Josh Giddey- Ellison Ryan
Ellison what a random duo of favorite athletes. Ellison says Magnus is his favorite Grandmaster because, “he a baller,’ while Giddey is his favorite hooper because he is a “white boy that is goated wit da sauce.”
Brandon Marsh- Johnny Miles-Olson
Johnny said his mom exclaims, “There is Homeless Jesus!” every time she sees him on the TV. While I despise the Phillies, I also thoroughly enjoy watching Brandon Marsh play, so I like this pick.
Charlie Culberson-Abram Shuler
This is as random as it gets, Abram; only true ball knowers and Braves fans know the slightly above-average player that is Charlie Culberson. Abram stated in an interview with me,
“He’s freaking awesome. His nickname is ‘Charlie Clutch’ for Pete’s sake, and rightfully so. The man plays every position on the diamond except pitcher and pinch hits like a boss. Sadly, he took a fastball to the face and hasn’t been the same after his recovery, demoted to AAA and then cut. RIP king”
Such a fun pick for a favorite athlete.
Dennis Schroder- Reed Clendaniel
Celtics legend Dennis Schroeder!!!!!!!!
Gail Lewis- Ryan Fowles
Possibly the greatest to ever do it. 6 MVPs. 23 Employee of the Month selections. 1 ROTY. In her career, she totaled 48,789 aisles stocked, nine Black Fridays worked, 12,785 shoplifters tackled, and close to two million items scanned. Walmart will never be the same without her. Enjoy your retirement, my glorious queen.
Tim Tebow- Campbell Stoklosa
Tebowmania was a fun era of football. His open faith and dedication to Christianity is something I’ll always respect in him. He also was a Patriot for a few weeks! Magnet’s QB1 says Tebow is his favorite because,
“HE IS A BEAST AND CHRISTIAN.”
My favorite Tebow fact is he was the leader of a team with over a third of its team members being arrested including players like Aaron Hernandez, Riley Cooper, Cam Newton, the Pouncey brothers, Jenoris Jenkins, and many more. That 2008 Florida championship team will go down forever as the strangest team to ever exist.
PJ Walker- Mr.Cosgrove
Walker and Mr.Cosgrove went to the same High School in Lisbon, New Jersey which is a great reason for him being his favorite athlete. Cosgrove when interviewed said, “He is the ultimate underdog; he is undersized, he wasn’t selected in the NFL draft, he entered the league as a UDFA (undrafted free agent), and he has bounced around the NFL. Despite this, he has achieved a winning record in his starts, he never gave up and does the best he can regardless of the position he is put in. I think his life story is a good one for Magnet students to hear, because whatever happens, you have to be ready and prepare for the success that you seek.”
Tajh Boyd- Jackson Ethredge
The man who got the dynasty going for Clemson was an easy pick for Jackson. Jackson says Boyd, “Put Clemson on the map as well as having the most passing yards in school history.” He followed that with a rather bold take saying, “He made Deandre “Nuk” Hopkins and Sammy Watkins who they are today. Considering Hopkins is one of the better receivers ever to play in the NFL, and Watkins was the 4th overall pick and a Super Bowl champion, that is BOLD. Boyd never panned out in the NFL, but he was fun to watch at Clemson.
Mike Tolbert- James King
James likes Tolbert because, “He was a part of the 2015 Carolina run and he was a 280-pound running back.”
Joey Julius- Charlie Cramer
Cramer says he was an “Absolute legend of the 2016 Penn State football team. He overcame challenges and was one of the best special teams players I have ever seen.” Julius was so much fun to watch. Imagine seeing a 270-pound kicker running full speed at you, I would immediately hit the ground and avoid the hit. It truly is a shame he had to quit for mental health struggles.
Fan Zhedong- Zuriel Nyamutsaka
Fan Zhedong is the “Lebron or MJ of Table Tennis” per Zuriel, but he prefers to call him the “Lebron of Table Tennis” due to city connections. Lebron is known for being from Akron, Ohio, which is not too far from Canton. Zhedong was born in Canton, China. “His serves are like BAM, every time, its a shame that he is in China because he would probably be in the MLB.” I do not see the correlation, but I like the take Zuriel. He indeed confirms that is his GOAT.
Magnet Athlete Submissions
Max Peters- Dean McCollough
Dean says,
He is extremely good at his sport, and his good looks add to my love for him! He is such a fun young athlete to watch and inspires me to do my best. “
I have to agree Dean, Max is a very handsome gentleman, and watching him on the football field is so much fun. My favorite memories with him are the numerous times we lie on top of opposing defensive linemen together after committing the most violating double teams you’ll ever see.
Beatty Cummings- Sam Solari
While reminiscing, Sam said, “He has been my idol since 12U baseball season when we won the rec baseball championship going undefeated.” It’s hard not to love Beatty: he’s 6’4″, incredibly handsome, and absolutely RAKES. You’re not too bad-looking yourself, Mr. Solari.
James King- Ford Martin
Ford declared his admiration for James when he said,
“James is an outstanding leader for the youthful players. He steps up when needed most and he is a huge inspiration to my game. He played an entire game with his shorts on backwards and it didn’t phase him despite the entire student section making fun of him for it.”
Couldn’t have said it any better myself Ford.
