You wouldn't expect a professional sportsman, who must dedicate a huge part of their life to staying in shape and sharpening their skills, to also be able to get the hours in on the games console or PC, and yet there are quite a few.
Some love to link playing video games with laziness and unhealthy habits, but the following 10 athletes laugh in the face of that suggestion as they manage to fit their favourite past-time into their already extremely busy lives.
Here are 10 athletes who are gamers and proud of it.
Mike Ross
One of our favourite "before they were famous" stories here at Balls.ie is the fact that Andrew Trimble alerted us to; Mike Ross used to play 'Team Fortress' at a competitive level in the UK.
Team Fortress is a game that was based off the 'Quake' engine and involves two teams consisting of players playing a number of roles in a fast-paced shooter. He no longer plays that game as much as he once did, but he recently told us that he's still mad about Battlefield 4, and is really enjoying Star Wars: Battlefront, even if it brings out the camper within.
The maps are really well done. I quite enjoy Hoth.
I'm a bit of a camper, so I like to lurk around the caverns with a shotgun. There's a lot of choke points and places to drop sentry turrets, so I'll get called a camper there.
Hector Bellerin
You might think that a young footballer like Arsenal's Hector Bellerin would play a lot of FIFA, and you would be right, but the Spaniard also loves Call Of Duty.
In fact, he loves it so much that he got a tattoo to symbolise the clan he was in with the other Spanish players in the Arsenal youth team.
And this one I got on my first lads holiday, with Jon Toral, Emi Martinez and Ignasi Miquel [all Catalan players from Arsenal’s youth teams]. We were in Greece and we used to play a lot of Call of Duty, and our clan tag was ‘tato’, which means brother in Spanish, so I got that in the Greek alphabet, as a reminder of our friendship. We still all keep in contact, even though we’re now in different countries.
When I first came to England, I used to have a nap and when I woke up it was dark already, so I didn't have much to do.
I used to spend hours and hours playing Call Of Duty.
Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson
Without a doubt the most passionate major sports star when it comes to gaming, the man known as Mighty Mouse is a very active streamer over on Twitch.tv.
Johnson plays all sorts of games from Hearthstone to Street Fighter to the UFC game that he himself is in, and streams regularly giving his fans a chance to not only see him play the games he enjoys, but also interact with him in the comments section.
Speaking to Kotaku.com, Demetrious Johnson claimed he wants to stream games full-time when he retires from MMA:
I’ve always thought about going back to work at a warehouse or whatever I need to do to make ends meet, but now streaming and video gaming is just kicking off. All I care about is the next game coming out next month. I’m still fighting, I’m in the prime of my career and train my ass off every single day, but I’m starting my second career now. Why not?
Andrea Pirlo
In his short but enjoyable autobiography, Andrea Pirlo described the Playstation as follows:
After the wheel, the PlayStation is the best invention of all time. And ever since it's existed, I've been Barcelona, apart from a brief spell way back at the start when I'd go Milan. I can’t say with any certainty how many virtual matches I’ve played over the last few years but, roughly speaking, it must be at least four times the number of real ones.
He then continued to explain that the majority of his hours were lodged against Alessandro Nesta:
Pirlo vs Nesta was a classic duel back in our Milanello days. We’d get in early, have breakfast at 9am and then shut ourselves in our room and hit the PlayStation until 11. Training would follow, then we’d be back on the computer games until four in the afternoon. Truly a life of sacrifice.
He really loved his Pro Evo back in the day, but sure didn't we all.
Pepe
Another athlete who has taken to streaming his gaming activities, Real Madrid defender Pepe plays the popular shooter 'Destiny' online, and can be seen rocking the headset to communicate with his team here:
Max Holloway
A man who went the distance with Conor McGregor in the Irishman's second fight in the UFC, Hawaiian Max Holloway has recently launched his own gaming channel on YouTube, where he plays Call of Duty and EA SPORTS UFC 2.
Check him out.
Michael Carrick
A fantastic story came to our attention recently thanks to the Graham Hunter podcast, where it transpired that Michael Carrick made loads of his Manchester United teammates buy PSPs so they could game while travelling to away games.
We had the PSPs – which were little handheld PlayStations a few years back – and there was a game called SOCOM. It was a bit of an army game, but it was the only game you could play against each other. You could get 8 v 8 just playing against each other. A lot of other games you’d go and do missions and that type of thing, but the boys found a game so we could all play together.
It’s not everyone’s cup of tea so a few lads didn’t play it, but straight away there was just a togetherness and a spirit. So obviously we all had names and there were a wide variety of names. We’ll keep a couple secret. And mine was Havoc, I don’t know where it came from. It sounds a little thing, but literally every time we went on a coach or a train, whether it was half an hour or three hours, the game would get played and we would be into it.
Darren Fletcher's nickname was 'Haywire'. Fantastic.
Gordon Hayward
Currently enjoying a lot of success in the NBA this season, Gordon Hayward wrote an article for 'Players Tribune' where he explained that his teenage years, when you would assume an NBA star would spend on the court honing his skills, were mostly spent playing 'Halo':
A large chunk of my free time during high school was spent in my basement playing Halo. That was all I wanted to do. School dances? For the birds. It was Master Chief or bust. And I wouldn’t change anything.
He then tried to explain to those who don't know just how big professional gaming is becoming, and he has also appeared as a commentator in competitive gaming in recent times. Here he is telling IGN why he loves eSports:
Chad Ochocinco Johnson
Once one of the most feared receivers in the NFL, some rather poor life choices see Chad Johnson now playing his football in Canada.
But in his spare time he likes to beat people at FIFA and talk about it on twitter.
The former Cincinnati Bengal often issues open challenges to people on twitter, offering to show up to their house and beat them on their own couch.
Just pulled up to @_DATBO1WOODY crib, I don't play about FIFA16... pic.twitter.com/sd9jeddykD
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
Final score against @_DATBO1WOODY #FIFA16KING pic.twitter.com/ojjSZ2Vqd0
— Chad Johnson (@ochocinco) January 2, 2016
David Meyler
"Yes lads" - Last but certainly not least, it's Hull City and Ireland midfielder David Meyler who has become a YouTube sensation after getting very, very good at FIFA over the past few years.
Meyler uploads his highlights to YouTube and streams on Twitch, where he plays 'FUT Champions', the most competitive game-mode of FIFA, and finishes the weekend league with results to rival the best pro players in FIFA.
We were lucky enough to get a game in with him in the past, and we found out just how passionate he was about FIFA. He even brings his console and recording equipment away on pre-season with him!
