Newton's Fourth Law: for every legendary athlete, there are at least three poorly made local car commercials starring said athlete.
TV commercial appearances is a rite of passage for most athletes. While bigger stars opt to sign million-dollar deals with global brands like Nike and Gatorade, lower-tier athletes usually end up hocking local small businesses. You probably won't see Lebron James in a spot for Autoland on Route 22 in Springfield, New Jersey and Andre Burakovsky (third line left wing for the Washington Capitals) probably won't be chugging a cold bottle of Pepsi during primetime TV anytime soon.
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Honestly, there are few things more enjoyable in this life than watching athletes in low-budget TV commercials. The outlandish scenarios combined with the stilted acting range of your standard professional athlete results in an interesting product that borderlines somewhere between magic and disaster. The camera picture always makes it seem like it was shot on VHS and the non-sports actors are always someone's awkward relative spouting terrible commercial dialogue that is half-poorly written jokes and half-jargon about refinancing your mortgage.
Here are the worst -- which makes them, of course, the best-- TV commercials featuring athletes of various fame and skill.
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