Nowadays, the line between “jocks” and “nerds” is fading. Stereotypical nerds, from Elon Musk to Steven Spielberg, run the world now, and the toughest athletes and fitness figures openly embrace what were once considered geeky hobbies.
Here are just some of the biggest badasses in sports and fitness who have a proud nerdy streak.
We dare anyone try to steal lunch money from one of these guys.
7 Jacked Badasses Who Are Total Nerds
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Chris Bosh
An NBA superstar and member of the unstoppable 2012 championship-winning Miami Heat, Chris Bosh is vocal about his love of computers, tech, and coding. The self-proclaimed computer nerd is an advocate for the charity Code.org, which is dedicated to expanding access to computer science resources for underrepresented communities. In high school, he was a member of Wizkids, the Association of Minority Engineers, and the National Society of Black Engineers, and he went on to study graphic design and computer imaging at Georgia Tech. He also wrote an article for Wired explaining why he believes everyone should learn how to code.
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Harry Langdon / Getty
Joe Manganiello
It’s no secret, but most fans of the 6’5”, 236-pound former True Blood werewolf aren’t aware that alongside his more “manly” obsessions with the Steelers and lifting heavy-ass weights, he has an even bigger place in his heart for Dungeons & Dragons. Manganiello’s wife, Sofia Vergara, revealed that he converted their wine cellar into a veritable dungeon where his friends come over for epic eight-hour quests. He’s been a regular guest on the Twitch show Critical Role and role plays alongside his former True Blood castmate Deborah Ann Woll in their own Twitch series Force Grey. If anyone could kill a man using nothing but a D20—that’s a twenty-sided die—it’s Joe Manganiello.
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Harry Langdon / Getty
Arnold Schwarzenegger
This one shouldn’t surprise most fans. From world-renowned bodybuilder to movie star to politician to science geek, Arnold keeps surprising us with this varying interests and changing career trajectory. Ever since he made a turn toward politics in 2003, Schwarzenegger has been as outspoken about climate change and economics as his fitness regimen. He also founded his own charity, After-School All-Stars, dedicated to providing after-school programs for low-income kids. He’s also a staunch opponent of bullying. He famously shut down an internet troll who was talking smack about the Special Olympics (an organization he regularly volunteers for) with a thoughtful and measured rebuttal.
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Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty
Vin Diesel
Theater geek, gamer, huge Dungeons & Dragons fan: Vin Diesel has serious nerd credentials. He’s spoken openly about how, as a kid growing up in New York who was obsessed with theater, D&D allowed him to explore his creative side. In a foreword he wrote for 30 Years of Adventure, a retrospective about the game, he said, “playing D&D was a training ground for our imaginations and an opportunity to explore our own identities.” To promote his film the Last Witch Hunter, which was actually based on a D&D character he created, he appeared on Twitch for a one-off quest called D&Diesel. He reportedly has the character’s name, Melcor, tattooed somewhere on his body.
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Christopher Polk / Getty
Terry Crews
Terry Crews calls himself a “geek,” and we dare you to argue with him. Fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine might know that some of his fictional Terry’s more geeky and “soft” characteristics mirror his own—he’s a talented artist and overly enthusiastic hype man who’s an absolute sucker for the women in his life. But real-life Terry is also obsessed with Star Wars (he credits it with changing his life), loves gaming with his son (he even posted a video series detailing their home gaming PC build), and he collaborated with Bernhardt Design to create his own line of furniture. (Real Terry also loves yogurt, but there’s nothing nerdy about that.)
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The Ring Magazine / Getty
Lennox Lewis
In between beating the ever-living sh*t out of his opponents as the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Lennox Lewis had brainier pursuits outside the ring in the form of chess. The amateur competitive chess player trained his mental muscle with a regimen as strict as training for his bouts, telling the Telegraphthat he plays “all day, sometimes,” and more typically, “four hours a day.” He continues to play chess even after stepping away from the boxing ring in 2004, and is the sponsor of a youth chess team.
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MCT / Getty
Chris Cooley
The former Washington tight end owns more than the franchise record for receptions by a TE—he also has his own art gallery and pottery studio. Cooley, who majored in art education at Utah State, didn’t start making pottery until he was two years into his NFL career, but once he started, he was hooked. His impressive pieces are available for purchase on his gallery’s website.And while ceramics might not seem like a typical side hobby for an NFL star, former Falcons center Joe Hawley also counts pottery as his passion and a way to center himself off-field.
An NBA superstar and member of the unstoppable 2012 championship-winning Miami Heat, Chris Bosh is vocal about his love of computers, tech, and coding. The self-proclaimed computer nerd is an advocate for the charity Code.org, which is dedicated to expanding access to computer science resources for underrepresented communities. In high school, he was a member of Wizkids, the Association of Minority Engineers, and the National Society of Black Engineers, and he went on to study graphic design and computer imaging at Georgia Tech. He also wrote an article for Wired explaining why he believes everyone should learn how to code.
Joe Manganiello
It’s no secret, but most fans of the 6’5”, 236-pound former True Blood werewolf aren’t aware that alongside his more “manly” obsessions with the Steelers and lifting heavy-ass weights, he has an even bigger place in his heart for Dungeons & Dragons. Manganiello’s wife, Sofia Vergara, revealed that he converted their wine cellar into a veritable dungeon where his friends come over for epic eight-hour quests. He’s been a regular guest on the Twitch show Critical Role and role plays alongside his former True Blood castmate Deborah Ann Woll in their own Twitch series Force Grey. If anyone could kill a man using nothing but a D20—that’s a twenty-sided die—it’s Joe Manganiello.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
This one shouldn’t surprise most fans. From world-renowned bodybuilder to movie star to politician to science geek, Arnold keeps surprising us with this varying interests and changing career trajectory. Ever since he made a turn toward politics in 2003, Schwarzenegger has been as outspoken about climate change and economics as his fitness regimen. He also founded his own charity, After-School All-Stars, dedicated to providing after-school programs for low-income kids. He’s also a staunch opponent of bullying. He famously shut down an internet troll who was talking smack about the Special Olympics (an organization he regularly volunteers for) with a thoughtful and measured rebuttal.
Vin Diesel
Theater geek, gamer, huge Dungeons & Dragons fan: Vin Diesel has serious nerd credentials. He’s spoken openly about how, as a kid growing up in New York who was obsessed with theater, D&D allowed him to explore his creative side. In a foreword he wrote for 30 Years of Adventure, a retrospective about the game, he said, “playing D&D was a training ground for our imaginations and an opportunity to explore our own identities.” To promote his film the Last Witch Hunter, which was actually based on a D&D character he created, he appeared on Twitch for a one-off quest called D&Diesel. He reportedly has the character’s name, Melcor, tattooed somewhere on his body.
Terry Crews
Terry Crews calls himself a “geek,” and we dare you to argue with him. Fans of Brooklyn Nine-Nine might know that some of his fictional Terry’s more geeky and “soft” characteristics mirror his own—he’s a talented artist and overly enthusiastic hype man who’s an absolute sucker for the women in his life. But real-life Terry is also obsessed with Star Wars (he credits it with changing his life), loves gaming with his son (he even posted a video series detailing their home gaming PC build), and he collaborated with Bernhardt Design to create his own line of furniture. (Real Terry also loves yogurt, but there’s nothing nerdy about that.)
Lennox Lewis
In between beating the ever-living sh*t out of his opponents as the former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, Lennox Lewis had brainier pursuits outside the ring in the form of chess. The amateur competitive chess player trained his mental muscle with a regimen as strict as training for his bouts, telling the Telegraphthat he plays “all day, sometimes,” and more typically, “four hours a day.” He continues to play chess even after stepping away from the boxing ring in 2004, and is the sponsor of a youth chess team.
Chris Cooley
The former Washington tight end owns more than the franchise record for receptions by a TE—he also has his own art gallery and pottery studio. Cooley, who majored in art education at Utah State, didn’t start making pottery until he was two years into his NFL career, but once he started, he was hooked. His impressive pieces are available for purchase on his gallery’s website.
And while ceramics might not seem like a typical side hobby for an NFL star, former Falcons center Joe Hawley also counts pottery as his passion and a way to center himself off-field.
