Best actors in a sports movie are...

Just like there are more sports movies that I didn’t talk about during the past month, there are too many actors to shorten the list to a Top Five.
My almost-made list include: Woody Herrelson, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman, Burt Reynolds and Nick Nolte.

5. Robert De Niro
One of best sports acting was De Niro in “Raging Bull” (1980).
De Niro won an Oscar for his portrayal of real-life middleweight champ Jake La Motta.
De Niro scored acclaim in “Bang the Drum Slowly” (1973) and also preformed well in “The Fan” (1996) and “Grudge Match” (2013).

5. Dennis Quaid: “Everybody’s All-American” (1988), “Any Given Sunday” (1999), “The Express” (2008), “Our Winning Season” (1978), “Breaking Away” (1979), “The Rookie” (2002), “Soul Surfer” (2011) and “Playing for Keeps” (2012).

4. Sylvester Stallone: He acted six times as boxer Rocky Balboa in the “Rocky” movies, but also “Death Race 2000” (1975), “Paradise Alley” (1978), “Victory” (1981), “Over the Top” (1986), “Driven” (2001), and “Grudge Match” (2013).

3. Wesley Snipes: Snipes has quite the sports line-up on his résumé including “Futuresport (1998),” “Wildcats” (1986), “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992); “Major League” (1989), “The Fan” (1996), “Play It to the Bone” (1999) and Undisputed” (2002)

2. Denzel Washington:
The two-time Oscar winner took on the world of college basketball as Jesus Shuttleworth in Spike Lee’s “He Got Game” (1998); played wrongfully incarcerated boxer Rubin Carter in “The Hurricane” (1999); and led the football team of suddenly racially integrated T.C. Williams High School to victory as Coach Herman Boone in “Remember the Titans” (2000).

1. Kevin Costner: Costner has made his way into several sports movies, but his best role came in “Bull Durham” when he portrayed down-and-going catcher Crash Davis.
He also played NFL general manager Sonny Weaver (his first cinematic journey into the world of football) in “Draft Day,” farmer and baseball field owner Ray Kinsella in “Field of Dreams” (1989), and aging pitcher Billy Chapel in “For Love of the Game” (1999).
Costner was also familiar with a golf course or two, having played Roy McAvoy, a former golf prodigy and West Texas driving range owner, in “Tin Cup” (1996).