The Benchwarmer Hall of Fame

How do you make the Benchwarmer Hall of Fame?

Perhaps you are beloved by fans despite riding the pine your entire career. Maybe you are a well-known ladies man during your personal time. You could have a cool skill that has allowed you to impress fans, even if it doesn't get you much playing time.

Then again, you could be famous for what you did after your bench-riding career. You might have had a huge performance when you finally got the chance to play, though it only added up to 15 minutes of sports fame.

Or perhaps a part of your legend is the time you spent toiling as a backup to another famous athlete before you forged your own iconic career.

The Benchwarmer Hall of Fame considers a wide array of criteria when making its selections. Congratulations to the inductees!

Jeff Reed

Punters and kickers are essentially benchwarmers that occasionally get to make an impact in the game. But generally, they just hang around and wait to be called upon.

Jeff Reed is a kicker. Jeff Reed is also a bro.

I think we're done here.

Jon Dorenbos

First things first, it might not be very nice, but I consider long-snappers to be benchwarmers.

You get paid to snap a ball a decent distance, and you watch the rest of the game. I'm not saying I could do it—I obviously couldn't—but it's probably the easiest position on a team to replace.

All of that said, Dorenbos seems like a cool dude. He's a regular on the great Philly radio show, Preston and Steve, he's a magician and he has a smoking-hot WAG.

In other words, Dorenbos is the coolest long-snapper you've never heard of.

Mark Madsen

With moves like that, how could you not make this list?

Brian Scalabrine

If you are going to be a benchwarmer, do it in style.

And if you can't do it in style, do it like Brian Scalabrine.

Tim Tebow

Has there every been a more polarizing backup than Tim Tebow?

First, people debated whether he should try to play quarterback in the NFL. Then, they debated if he should have been a first-round pick. Now in Denver, the debate rages over whether he should be starting, though Kyle Orton has been named the starter, and some believe Tebow is the team's fourth-best starter.

Whatever happens, Tebow will probably be newsworthy for years to come. Whether that is because of his play or not remains to be seen.

Sal Fasano

From everything I've read about Sal, he's a genuinely good guy. He's now the manager of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a Double-A affiliate of the Blue Jays.

But mostly, I'm concerned with that mustache in all its splendor and glory. I'm convinced that Fasano could also be a bare-knuckles boxer, a bounty hunter or Chuck Norris' sworn enemy, all because of the power surely bestowed upon him by that mustache.

The word "epic" is overused in our society today. It should be saved for natural wonders like Fasano's mustache.

(Yes, Fasano made the Benchwarmer Hall of Fame because of facial hair. It's not exactly an exclusive Hall.)

Nate Robinson

Nate Robinson doesn't really play all that much any longer.

But he's a three-time Dunk Contest winner, making him forever an honorary "Cool Benchwarmer."

Matt Leinart

He may never be an NFL starter, but admit it—you kinda want to be him anyway.

I'm sure this picture has nothing to do with it.

Frank Reich

Frank Reich makes this list for one reason—while a backup up for Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly in Buffalo, he orchestrated the greatest comeback in NFL history.

Because nobody circles the wagons like Frank Reich.

(I just threw up a little bit in my mouth.)

Crezdon Butler

Crezdon Butler is a second-year backup cornerback for the Steelers, and is apparently considered by his teammates to be the funniest member of the squad.

He also does an entertaining impression of Mike Tomlin.

When he can tell him apart from Omar Epps, that is.

Paul Bissonnette

Twitter has given those athletes who don't always get to shine on the court, or ice, pitch, or whatever surface they play on a forum to make themselves known.

Bissonnette and his tweets meets this criteria.

"

Does anybody else's dad tuck their shirt into their underwear? Or just my dad?

Watching a show called "big brother". So they just hang out in a house? Then vote one out every week? It's like survivor for lazy people.

Happy birthday Pavel Datsuyk. I'd let this guy impregnate my future ex wife at the small chance the child be born with even half his skill.

 

"

Dave Roberts

It may not be fair to reduce Dave Roberts career to benchwarmer status, but let's be honest—Roberts is synonymous with one stolen base.

To recap: The 2004 ALCS, Game 4, Yankees lead the series 3-0 and the game 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Millar worked a lead-off walk, and Roberts was brought into the game as a pinch runner. Everybody knew what was coming next.

Roberts took off for second, swiping the bag and giving the Red Sox hope. He would later score on Bill Mueller's single, tying the game and setting the scene for David Ortiz's two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 12th.

The Red Sox overcame the 3-0 series deficit and eventually became World Series champions, forever etching Dave Roberts' name in Boston sports lure.

Pat Burrell

He wasn't always a benchwarmer.

But now that he is, his antics off the field have overshadowed anything he's ever done on the field.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with The Machine (0:43 on the video).

Kevin Kolb

Kevin Kolb's career is the epitome of backup angst:

Kolb was drafted in 2007 as Andy Reid's clear choice to be Donovan McNabb's successor. For three seasons, he sat behind McNabb, patiently waiting for his chance to start.

Finally, in 2010, the Eagles traded McNabb to Washington, giving Kolb his chance.

It was a short-lived opportunity—Kolb sustained a concussion in the first game against Green Bay, and Michael Vick so impressed the Eagles in the game-and-a-half he played that he was named the starter ahead of Kolb.

Once more, Kolb was relegated to backup duties. Before the 2011 season, Kolb was traded to the Cardinals, where he is the clear-cut starter.

Now is your moment, Kolb—seize it.

Carl Weathers

That's right, the man that played Apollo Creed in Rocky and Chubbs in Happy Gilmore had a brief stint in the NFL, appearing in eight games for the Raiders in the 1970 and 1971 seasons.

Photo from NYDailyNews.com

Bill Goldberg

Bill Goldberg wasn't much of a football player.

But he did alright for himself with a professional wrestling career, and it's impossible to ignore that he is simply a badass.

Also, I was scared that if I left him off of this list, he might find me and pull off all of my limbs.

Bob Uecker

Yes, Bob Uecker was once a benchwarming catcher for the Milwaukee Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.

If his post-baseball career is any indication, he was one of the coolest benchwarmers of all time.

Al-Saadi Gaddafi

Yes, he is the son of that Gaddafi.

If you want to read the whole story about Gaddafi's soccer-playing son, go here.

But the general gist is that Gaddafi wanted to play soccer, sort of sucked but played in a Libyan league, decided he was better than said Libyan league, ended up getting signed by Serie A Italian team Perugia, which most certainly wasn't a publicity move, rode the bench for Perugia, later signed with Udinese, where he also rode the bench, and was most recently captured by Libyan rebels.

The moral of the story?

If you are a dictator's son who probably used political influence to find your way on to soccer clubs but mostly rode the bench, you will make the Benchwarmer Hall of Fame.

Aaron Rodgers

You know the story by now, so I don't need to go into it beyond saying that Rodgers spent three seasons (2005-07) behind Brett Favre, as the retirement saga of Favre dominated the headlines each offseason.

Rodgers patiently waited his turn, and he is now one of the top-tier quarterbacks in the NFL.

Steve Young

Steve Young famously backed-up Joe Montana from 1987-90, finally getting his chance to play in 1991 after Montana went down with an elbow injury and missed the entire season.

It was thought that Montana would return in 1992, though he didn't make an appearance until the final game of the season. Young seized this second opportunity, winning that year's MVP award after compiling 3465 yards passing with 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, leading the 49ers to a 14-2 regular season record.

Young would eventually become a Hall of Fame quarterback, but his roots were as a benchwarmer at the end of the Montana years in San Francisco.

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