On Sunday night, “Saturday Night Live” celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special student. The program has presented a series of sports ties since it debuted in 1975, with greats such as Bill Russell, Deion Sanders, Derek Jeter and Tom Brady present.
The first athlete to present the program was the then Marshal of the Vikings de los Minnesota, Fran Tarkenton, who was the guest star in episode 13 of the second season. He was joined by the English singer and composer Leo Sayer as a musical guest.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has presented the program five times, more than any other athlete. His first turn arrived in 2000 with the musical guest AC/DC.
25 years ago, @Therock He made history by becoming the first @Wwe Superstar to organize SNL … and @PaulwightMick Foley and I brought attitude to the monologue!
Congratulations to all the cast, crew and executives of @NBCSNL that have created a global entertainment franchise for 50 years. pic.twitter.com/asf8elhwit
– Triple H (@tripleh) February 16, 2025
Before SNL’s 50th anniversary special, we look at some notable sketches of sports figures that have appeared in the program.
John Madden | September 7, 1982
Long before the Madden cruise transported the famous aerophobic crazy between the games, he traveled by train. Look for how many times the big station tries to tell the story about leaving a player behind a game.
Marvin Hagler | May 17, 1986
Only two months after defending his medium weight title with a victory over John Mugabi, Hagler was coanfrerion of the program with journalist Jimmy Breslin. In this sketch, Hagler, who won 52 fights for knockout in his career, gives the spectators tips on how to be knocked out.
Wayne Gretzky | May 13, 1989
The hockey legend organized the program recently out of its first season with Los Angeles Kings, after “The Trade” the previous low season. Among other parodies, Gretzky was played as the guest host of a call program, presenting a series of questions that were not related to hockey.
Chris evert | November 11, 1989
The 18 -time Grand Slam winner was the first female athlete to organize the show. The musical guest The Eurythmics was joined. This is Evert’s historic monologue:
Michael Jordan | September 28, 1991
Just a few months after winning his first NBA title, Jordan was the host of the main episode of the 17th SNL season. The goat gave a performance of all time in “daily statements with Stuart Smalley.” Jordan, who was in the program with Public Enemy, has not yet been the host again.
Charles Barkley | September 25, 1993
After winning the NBA MVP and arriving at the NBA finals, Barkley was the host of the season of season 19. Barkley has received another three times since then. He made his own “daily statement” in his first episode. However, one of the best moments was not intentionally and came from a promotion session with Nirvana, the musical guest of that episode.
The SNL promotional essay by Nirvana and Charles Barkley, 1993 pic.twitter.com/ipikwmm2OJ
– Doves and plans (@pigsandplans) January 29, 2021
Deion Sanders | February 18, 1995
Only a few weeks after winning his first Super Bowl with the San Francisco 49ers, Prime Time took over Studio 8H. He had a remarkable NSFW sketch that showed too much of Chris Farley and, at a peak moment of the 99, Sanders joined Tim Meadows and Adam Sandler as a rap trio on bars.
“Paz, we go here.”
Derek Jeter | December 1, 2001
The New York Yankees captain went from Bronx to Midtown Manhattan for his performance with the musical guests Bubba Sparxxx and Shakira. In the “Weekend Update”, Jeter discussed the fan of the Boston Red Sox Fan, Seth Meyers.
Tom Brady | April 16, 2005
Four Victories of the Super Bowl, three MVP of the NFL and two retirees, Brady, then only three times champion, assumed the organization tasks. He approached a funnel cake in this sketch with Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch and Rob Riggle. These cakes are probably not allowed in the TB12 diet, but that did not exist in 2005.
Peyton Manning | March 24, 2007
Manning was the host of his birthday, and his parents and brothers attended. Manning, who had just won his first Super Bowl with the Indianapolis Colts in February 2007, became a great performance of all time, highlighted by his Commercial Parody of NFL United Way.
Manning has not organized the program again again, but returned in January 2022 for a passionate breakdown of the Netflix series “Emily in Paris” in the weekend update.
Ronda Rousey | January 23, 2016
Rousey organized only two months after losing his gallo weight title against Holly Holm at UFC 193. Rousey became the first female combat athlete to organize the show and the third female athlete in assuming host tasks.
Travis Kelce | March 4, 2023
From the great success of his new Podcast of Heights and his brother Jason to the host of SNL, the closed wing of Star Kansas City Chiefs has shown a great inclination for the media. It would also make an invited appearance later in 2023 in a sketch that refers to its very publicized relationship with Taylor Swift.
