Many stars you watch are very intelligent and well-educated in many different fields. One famous example is Ronnie Coleman, the eight-time Mr. Olympia who graduated with an accounting degree with honors. While he never used the degree, he reportedly was very good with numbers. When he wasn’t yelling “lightweight” at a barbell with 800 solid-ass pounds on it, Coleman was also a police officer.
“The King” isn’t the only champion that shows that education matters. Here are 10 sports greats that have excelled on the field and in school.
The four-time Mr. Olympia (2006-2007, 2009-2010) winner is known for his ability to excel at what is known as the “business of bodybuilding,” but his education had nothing to do with bodybuilding or business.
Cutler graduated from Quinsigamond Community College in 1993 with a degree in Criminal Justice. In other words, he was well-qualified to join Coleman in the police force or even become an FBI agent. We wouldn’t want to be the criminal Cutler was chasing after.
Before Heath became a bodybuilding legend, with seven Olympia titles to his name, he was remembered for his play on the hardwood at the University of Denver. He majored in Business Administration, and likely put those lessons to use when creating his own supplement company, Phil Heath Labs.
He returned to the school in 2012 and obtained an Information Technology degree, which he uses to run his own website and manage his merchandising, according to the school’s website.
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Cydney Gillon (Figure)
The reigning Fitness Olympia champion has a Masters of Arts in Strategic Public Relations (specializing in sports & entertainment), a good degree to have considering she has to promote herself and her brand, Cake Factory Fitness, to publications such as this one.
She also graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, and while she might psych out the competition she hasn’t exactly used that degree professionally.
Carwin was at one time known as “The Engineer.” That’s because he holds not one but two degrees in the field of engineering: one in Mechanical Engineering and the other in Environmental Technology.
He earned the former from the Colorado School of Mines and the latter from Western State College.
He’s famous for having worked as an engineer while competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was at one time the Interim Heavyweight Champion.
The Miami Dolphins quarterback is known nowadays for displaying “Fitzmagic” on the field, but he’s also considered one of the smartest men in the National Football League (NFL).
That’s thanks to his days at Harvard, where he didn’t only play quarterback but graduated with a business degree.
The mayor of Knox County, Tennessee is a former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, known as Kane. There may be a reason the 20-plus year wrestling veteran was good at promos and interviews.
He was an English Literature graduate of Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State) in 1990.
The Miami Heat superstar is considered among the best of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is not shy about speaking his mind either.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he holds a degree in communications from his alma mater of Marquette.
Don’t be surprised if he’s still involved in the game as an analyst when he calls it a career on the court.
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Craig Breslow (Baseball)
Breslow is now an executive, but used to be a pitcher for 10 teams including the 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
Had that not worked out for him, he would’ve likely taken advantage of his Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry degrees that he attained while he was playing at Yale.
He was accepted to the New York University School of Medicine, but deferred to play in the big leagues.
The World Cup soccer champ and Olympic gold medalist is considered among the elite of her sport, but did you know that she has a Political Economy degree that she attained from UC Berkeley in 2010?
She actually graduated one semester early, too. That degree involves economic production and trade in relation to laws and government.
Her production on the field has been serving her pretty well so she may not be putting that degree to use anytime soon
The star of Strongest Man in History could’ve told the audience a lot about history, considering he holds a degree in it from Western Oregon where he graduated in 2008.
