Your Favorite Sports Movie Stars Back in Character

Forget acting. Kevin Costner was meant to be on a baseball field. Matthew McConaughey was meant to fire up football teams.

It's fun to think that way at least. These Hollywood actors have starred in some of the greatest sports films of our time (or Kicking and Screaming), and they've carried a love of sports with them off the set.

Face it, actors. You weren't meant to have film careers—you were meant to be in the sports world. You were meant to grace the virtual pages of sports websites. It's where you belong.

Here they are, 12 instances of sports movie actors fulfilling their true destinies, ranked in accordance with who embodied their fictional characters most.

Sorry, Thomas Ian Nicholas, you will always be Henry Rowengartner.

Robert De Niro

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Robert De Niro starred in one of the greatest sports movies ever made, the 1980 classic Raging Bull. It only seemed right that one of film's most famous fictional boxers would attend the biggest fight in recent memory, the May bout between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.

To be fair, De Niro wasn't the only boxing-movie actor at the fight, not by a long shot, in fact. Also in attendance, per Ann Gripper of Mirror Online, were Denzel Washington (The Hurricane), Jake Gyllenhaal (Southpaw), Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter), Jon Voight (The Champ) and Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby). 

De Niro didn't get in the ring, but he was there. That counts for something.

Mark Wahlberg

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As a sports fan, actor Mark Wahlberg is famously devoted to all things Boston. He did, however, play real-life Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Vince Papale in the 2006 film Invincible.

So it was fitting that Wahlberg repped the Eagles at Pope Francis' Festival of Families in Philadelphia in September. Wahlberg, serving as master of ceremonies, sneaked in a "Go Eagles" for the football fans in attendance, per Extra Mustard.

Charlie Sheen

Ricky Vaughn in a major league clubhouse—seems about right.

Charlie Sheen has played many roles over the course of his career, but sports fans will always remember him as Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn from the Major League movies.

In September, Sheen met a real-life MLB pitcher in Anaheim, California. He stopped by the Los Angeles Angels clubhouse after the game, a 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers, to meet opposing pitcher Derek Holland. Needless to say, Holland was pretty stoked.

Related: Did you know Sheen once bought over 2,000 tickets to an MLB game so he could better his chances of catching a foul ball? True story, per Sports Illustrated (via Business Insider's Kevin Baumer).  

Bill Murray

Bill Murray on a golf course also seems right.

Never has there been a greater golf movie than Caddyshack. The 1980 classic starred great comedians Murray, Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield.

Murray often attends PGA pro-am events, according to Sean Zak of Golf.com, and he gave golf and movie-lovers alike a show in July when he showed up at the John Deere Classic Pro-Am in Illinois. Murray is an Illinois native (and noted Chicago sports fan), so the John Deere Classic was an obvious choice.

Sure, he played a groundskeeper Caddyshack, but Murray showed off his golf skills (but more so, his comedy skills) on the course.

Cast of 'The Sandlot'

Ah, The Sandlot. Talk about a '90s sports movie classic. The cast has reunited more than once over the years to relive the glory days, most recently at a minor league baseball game in Salt Lake City. Yeah-Yeah, Timmons, the Great Hambino—they were all there, donning jerseys and stepping onto the field where they belong. 

The crew also got together at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in 2013 to honor the 20th anniversary of the film. Earlier that same year, Ham and Squints (Patrick Renna and Chauncey Leopardi, respectively), joined Fox Sports for its coverage of a game in Minnesota.   

You were born to say "L-7 weenie" in front of a camera, Squints. Don't change.

Matthew McConaughey

Eric Gay/Associated Press

Matthew McConaughey played former Marshall head football coach Jack Lengyel in the 2006 film We Are Marshall.

The actor, a devoted Texas football fan, has taken his flair for the coaching dramatic to real-life locker rooms more than once since. He has spoken to the Texas team several times, most recently in October 2014. According to Scott Allen of the Washington Post, McConaughey also took his talents to Washington ahead of the NFL team's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.  

By the way, in the recently concluded search for Texas' new athletic director, McConaughey's name did pop up in more than a few Twitter feeds. It's a bummer Mike Perrin got the job instead.

Cast of 'D2: The Mighty Ducks'

What's more natural than the cast of D2: The Mighty Ducks forming a Flying V? In September 2014, Marguerite Moreau, aka Connie Moreau, posted some photos to her Instagram account of many cast members. They had convened to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the film, according to Brett Smiley of Fox Sports.

Noticeably absent was Joshua Jackson, aka Charlie Conway, but don't worry. He thinks there should be a reboot. 

Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell has a few sports comedies to his name (Semi-Pro, Blades of Glory), and he's a pretty well-known sports fan. 

During the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Ferrell really channeled his inner Phil Weston.

Weston was Ferrell's soccer-coach character in the 2005 comedy Kicking and Screaming. In Brazil, he used some of those coaching skills to fire up U.S. soccer fans ahead of a big match against Germany.

At one point, Ferrell said, per Jon Terbush of the Week, "If the game gets close I will bite. I will bite every German player if I have to."

Emilio Estevez

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Real talk: When you see Emilio Estevez, do you think "Emilio Estevez" or "Gordon Bombay?" 

Estevez played Bombay, a youth hockey coach, in the Mighty Ducks trilogy, and as it turns out, the actor is actually a pretty big hockey fan. 

Just this May, Estevez live tweeted Game 5 of Western Conference Final, which pitted the Anaheim Ducks against the Chicago Blackhawks. Movie buffs will remember the Ducks vs. Hawks showdown from the first movie, and Estevez remembers, too. 

He referenced the film in several tweets, perhaps most notably busting out a "QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!" and a #GordonBombay.

Sanaa Lathan

Sanaa Lathan starred in Love and Basketball opposite Omar Epps in 2000, and 15 years later, she is finally sporting a WNBA jersey IRL.

Lathan's character, Monica Wright, ended up playing for the Los Angeles Sparks after her college days at USC and time overseas (and obviously after she and Quincy got back together).  

In August, the Chicago Sky invited Lathan to a practice and gifted her a jersey to commemorate the film's 15th anniversary.

Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner was born to be in baseball movies, or so it would seem. The actor has famously starred in the classics Field of Dreams, Bull Durham and For Love of the Game.

So of course Costner has made his way onto a real MLB field. It's only natural.

The actor took batting practice ahead of a Cleveland Indians game in 2013. Not only that, but back in 2002, Costner actually played in an exhibition game with a Seattle Mariners affiliate. He went 0-3 with an error and almost hit Lou Piniella with a pitch, according to Matt Monagan of MLB.com.

Thomas Ian Nicholas

Thomas Ian Nicholas is perhaps most well-known for playing Kevin in the American Pie movies, but '90s kids will always remember him as Henry Rowengartner. (He's also in a band—who knew?)

Anyway, Nicholas looked right at home at Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, despite aging a few years since playing an adolescent Chicago Cubs pitcher in Rookie of the Year.

Nicholas has been to Cubs games before, but never sporting his Rowengartner jersey. Nicholas told Arash Markazi of ESPN.com, "I've never done that. I haven't worn a Rowengartner jersey since the movie, but I feel like we kind of need it right now. It's kind of like my rally cap."

Unfortunately, the rally never came for the Cubbies, but Nicholas looked right at home.