The Best Throwback Thursday Pictures TBT

The whole of social media has really embraced Throwback Thursday. Each week, feeds on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are awash with photos that are high on nostalgia and low on clarity. 

Nothing says #TBT like a ridiculously blurry high school yearbook picture. 

It’s not just your friends and, God love her, your mom getting in on the action either. Athletes and celebrities have also become regular participants in Throwback Thursday, providing a look into their past before they were stars. 

Here are some of the best #TBT photos to date. 

John Wall

Washington Wizards star John Wall is looking all kinds of adorable as he poses with his elementary school basketball team. 

Torrey Smith

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith was obviously a popular guy in high school. It looks like he was voted homecoming king. 

Ashley Alana

Veteran Washington Redskins cheerleader Ashley Alana was clearly one of those kids who never went through an awkward stage. How inexplicably precious is she?

Kelly Slater

Here is surfer Kelly Slater on a trip to a South African animal rehab facility a few years ago. 

Ricky Romero

It looks like Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero was always destined to be a ballplayer. Is it me, or did everyone have that exact same skinny yellow bat growing up? 

Alex Morgan

Here is American soccer star Alex Morgan at bath time, looking a little less enthused than her bath buddy. 

Kevin Durant

Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant with his brother on the Spirit of Washington back in 2000. #jeanjacketmafia #vaselineallonmyface #shwag #wasicuteornah? 

Aly Raisman

American Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman before she traded in her precious princess costume for red, white and blue spandex. 

LeBron James

Last year, Miami Heat superstar LeBron James posted this Throwback Thursday photo of him as a freshman in high school. #stringbeanarms #whoisthiskid (his hashtags, not mine).

Alana Blanchard

Surfer girl Alana Blanchard back in the “good old days” with friends and fellow surfers Bethany Hamilton, Camille Brady, Jackie Brady and Kris Steiner. 

Miesha Tate

MMA fighter Miesha Tate looked just a tad less intimidating than she does these days but every bit as adorable as her nickname of "Cupcake" suggests. 

Tiger Woods

One of the very few photos that Tiger Woods has ever posted to Instagram is this one of him and Greg McLaughlin back in 1991 at the Nissan Open at Riviera in California. 

Sydney Leroux

American soccer star Sydney Leroux looks pretty fly in her uniform—and it’s not easy to look fly with a Greg Brady ‘do. 

Johnny Manziel

Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel hanging with his dad and another guy who is drinking Natty Light. 

Johnny Manziel

Sorry for two Johnny Manziel photos, but choosing between the them proved impossible. Here he is “schemin' on the low” with a proportionally sized football. 

Kaylyn Kyle

Canadian soccer star Kaylyn Kyle and her sister—though I'm unsure which is which or why they're both holding hands with that stuffed animal.

Aaron Williams

Aaron Williams played his college ball at Texas and now plays safety for the Buffalo Bills, but apparently he was once a pretty good baseball player—not to mention skinny as a rail. 

Allyson Felix

American track and field Olympian Allyson Felix doing the Cinderella gloves-and-ball-gown thing at her high school prom. I'm not usually a fan of the look, but she makes it work. 

Nick Young

The Lakers' Nick Young, Mr. Swaggy P himself, going straight cheese for the camera with his big brother on Christmas morning. 

Jabaal Sheard

Cleveland Browns linebacker Jabaal Sheard’s #TBT is from his college days at the University of Pittsburgh. #hail2pitt #Dope 

Nastia Liukin

American gymnast Nastia Liukin hanging out with her dad at the gym, just a couple of decades before she won Olympic gold at the 2008 Beijing Games. 

Shawn Johnson

American Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson looking beyond thrilled while hanging out with her mother. If she’s anything like me, she probably grew out of that forever by age 13. 

Mario Chalmers

Heat point guard Mario Chalmers sporting a slick sweater vest for seventh-grade picture day. Chandler Bing from Friends would be very proud. 

Bryan Petersen

Texas Rangers outfielder Bryan Petersen as a child dressed kind of like those kids from The Sound of Music. Everyone of a certain age has a ridiculously staged portrait like this one hanging up at mom and dad’s.

Earl Bennett

NFL free-agent wide receiver Earl Bennett is pictured with other high school all-stars during his junior year—he’s in the front row wearing orange. 

Jennie Finch

Retired American softball player Jennie Finch with her two older brothers, Shane and London. Whichever brother is lying out on the hood of that van is obviously my hero. 

Tony Jefferson

Arizona Cardinals safety Tony Jefferson’s official portrait from his peewee days. Judging by the shape of the photo, it’s more likely than not one of those goofy oversized buttons that moms proudly display, whether you want them to or not. 

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch’s lovely wife Samantha posted this #TBT around Christmas. Apparently this ridiculously hilarious spectacle was a previous year’s Christmas card—either that, or this is just how they dress. 

Matt Kemp

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp in what looks to be a very weathered elementary school picture. 

Ronda Rousey

UFC fighter “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey doesn’t look like she was much of a hell-raiser in high school—at least not judging by that friendly yearbook photo. 

DeMarcus Ware

Denver Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware at some point, with some people, at some place. He didn’t provide any context for the photo, but he can’t be older than 16 in that photo. 

Mike Tyson

“Iron” Mike Tyson back in his glory days and about to throw down with Emmanuel Lewis, the delightful star of the '80s family sitcom Webster. Hopefully Tyson took it easy on the kid. 

Lindsey Vonn

American Olympic Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn with her two sisters at the local public pool in their Wisconsin neighborhood. Apparently that goofy fruit-bowl number was her favorite bathing suit back in the day. 

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

Wrestling superstar The Rock in his WWE debut at Madison Square Garden back in 1996. He, like the rest of us, wonders what the heck was up with his hair. 

Mike Trout

Los Angeles Angels slugger Mike Trout actually doesn’t look all that much different in his #TBT photo! Then again, high school wasn’t all that long ago for the 22-year-old. 

Brittney Schram

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader veteran Brittney Schram looks about as adorable as one can in acid-wash jeans. 

Matt Barnes

The Los Angeles Clippers' Matt Barnes was one heck of a big two-year-old! No wonder he skipped the crawling stage, going from rolling around straight to walking. He looks like a second grader! 

Tony Hawk

Skateboard phenom Tony Hawk’s first time on TV was an appearance on the Captain Kangaroo show in 1981. He’s still looking for a punk cover of that theme song, if you have any connections. 

Cristiano Ronaldo

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo swimming with dolphins back in 2011. 

Heather Mitts

Retired American soccer star Heather Mitts asks, “What’s worse...the unibrow or the perm? #tbt” I say the unibrow, because she’s actually pulling off the perm pretty well. 

Colin Kaepernick

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick at 120 pounds. Both he and his pet tortoise Sammy have grown considerably since then. 

Nazr Mohammed

Chicago Bulls center Nazr Mohammed with his older brother when they were growing up in Ghana. Said Mohammed of his surly demeanor, “I have never seen a pic of me as a kid smiling lol. Guess I smile on the inside.”

Trey Williams

Texas A&M running back Trey Williams pictured in a family portrait with his brother. Those sweatshirts are just too adorable. 

Arianny Celeste

UFC Octagon girl Arianny Celeste has an image to maintain, so don’t be expecting any awkward middle school pics from her on #TBT. Instead she recently posted this patriotic number, obviously a photo from one of her past magazine pictorials.  

Brittney Palmer

Like her partner in crime Arianny Celeste, UFC Octagon girl Brittney Palmer went sexy and seductive for #TBT recently. The photo was from her 2012 calendar shoot. 

Dwyane Wade

Heat star Dwyane Wade receiving the Mr. Courageous award at the Five-Star Basketball tournament as a teenager. Apparently the award was created specifically for him. 

Prince Fielder

Rangers slugger Prince Fielder wasn’t always the man of girth we know him as today. Here he is looking positively petite with his dad, Cecil Fielder.