How about an Academy Award winning performance for the Hall? Cuba Gooding Jr, won the best Supporting Actor Award for his performance as Rod Tidwell, the braggadocios Wide Receiver who is Jerry Maguire’s lone client. Although, Maguire is often credited with the “Show me the Money” line, it was Tidwell who actually said it first.

Tidwell was comedic gold when showcasing his swagger, but Gooding Jr. was given probably the best role in his life, and gave the character a depth that allowed us to care about him personally. Tidwell’s gridiron play was featured prominently; especially on a featured Monday Night Football game where he caught a touchdown while appearing to suffer a serious injury. Rod Tidwell was ok, and we could easily argue that up until that point, that catch was the top moment in the history of the Arizona Cardinals.

It would get better for Arizona, though not for Cuba Gooding Jr.’s acting career. His roles got smaller, movie choices got worse and he joined that strange place where his name is a “Wait, he won an Oscar?” category that is flattering and demeaning at the same time. However, should we punish Rod Tidwell for “Radio” and “Snow Dogs”?  



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Jerry Maguire (1996)

Actor:
Cuba Gooding Jr.

Position Portrayed:
Wide Receiver

Played for:
Arizona Cardinals

Why you should vote for him:
This is a rare chance to award an Oscar performance in our Hall.

Why you should not vote for him:
Perhaps as penalty for every horrible career choice, Cuba Gooding Jr. made after this movie.

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After reviewing the performance of Kurt Russell in “The Best of Times” we thought of two things instantly:

1. How come Kurt Russell did not do more fictitious athletes (he would have been great at it)

2. How accurate it was that people glorify their high school accomplishments on the athletic spectrum.

As Reno Hightower, Kurt Russell was the athletic star of a small town whose accomplishments became embellished, and only Hightower remembered the limits of what he was. This may not have been a great film, but it did paint a picture on the high school athlete….and what happens next if that was their high water mark. At the end of the day, Russell was believable as a Quarterback, which for or purposes, was the most important thing.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
The Best of Times (1986)

Actor:
Kurt Russell

Position Portrayed:
Quarterback

Played for:
Taft H.S.

Why you should vote for him:
How about because of the awesomeness of Escape from New York?

Why you should not vote for him:
When was the last time this movie was on TV?

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Slap Shot (1977)

Charlestown Chiefs Player/Coach

It can’t be disputed that Paul Newman is one of the greatest actors of all time, but for many of us, nowhere was he more entertaining than when he was Reggie Dunlop, the player/coach of the Charlestown Chiefs.

With a lot of snow on the roof of his mid-40’s body, Dunlop was clearly in the winter of his playing career, but his youthful (juvenile?) antics on and off of the ice were balanced by his shenanigans to do whatever he could to keep the Chiefs afloat in the town where the mill’s closing spelled doom for the hockey team.

Like any great athlete, Dunlop didn’t quit.  When he got news that the news that the team was in fact going to fold, he made up a fictional buyer in Florida and with the acquisition of the Hanson Brothers, stumbled upon a goon style of hockey that packed the building.  

Dunlop’s ploy didn’t work, as the Chiefs owner was content to fold the team even though the organization became hot, but they did win the Federal League, albeit by forfeit.

The last we saw Reggie Dunlop he was set to ride north to Minnesota to coach a team there, but Slap Shot is one of the most iconic sports films of all time, and Dunlop was the star of the film.  

We are very proud to welcome Reggie Dunlop to the Fictitious Athlete Hall of Fame!

Place Kickers get no love from anybody, and when they screw up, nobody wears the goat horns higher. This brings us to Ray Finkle, who cost the Miami Dolphins the Super Bowl by missing what would have been the winning Field Goal by going “Wide Right”. His failure in the big game (which he blamed on Dan Marino, his place holder for not putting the ball, “laces out”) turned him insane; and in turn undergo a sex change which saw him/her become the Miami police Chef and orchestrate a lavish kidnapping of Marino and a dolphin who was pegged for the halftime show at the Super Bowl. Plausible? Of course not, but this is the movie that put Jim Carrey on the map, and taught us that Dan Marino should never act again.



The Bullet Points:
Movie Appeared:
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

Actor:
Sean Young

Position Portrayed:
Place Kicker

Played for:
Washington Sentinels

Why you should vote for him:
His character was (to us) the most interesting in the movie.

Why you should not vote for him:
Kickers? In a Hall of Fame? If Canton won’t do it, why should we?