Famous people playing games — athletes

Athletes have passion, strive to win, and feeling of competition in their blood. They spend hours training, then spend hours gaming. 

The previous time we talked about comedians-gamers, but today we will tell you about the athletes. Some play quite obvious games for themselves — football players prefer FIFA, basketballers like NBA 2K and etc. But there are ones whose preferences are very specific. 

Hector Bellerin

Hector is a footballer and currently plays for Arsenal FC. Spaniard does like video games though (when not picking top-style costumes, seriously, go search for some). Obviously, his favorite is FIFA, but he also adores Call Of Duty. Well, adores so much that he made a tattoo with a clan emblem —  he used to play in one with his Arsenal youth team comrades.

And this one I got on my first lads holiday, with Jon Toral, Emi Martinez, and Ignasi Miquel. 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.

Mesut Özil

Another Arsenal FC player. He's this year's revelation — Mesut created his own FIFA team, then made a Twitch channel, where he like really streams a lot (causing mass destruction among AFC fans, who think Mesut's addiction affects his field-play).  

German midfielder likes Fortnite, sometimes play FIFA. His teammates join him on streams from time to time.

Demetrious 'Mighty Mouse' Johnson

Demetrious is an American mixed martial artist and former wrestler. He competes in the men's flyweight division, but look at his cute and kind face! Johnson likes to play everything — from Hearthstone and Street Fighter to UFC (have you ever thought about playing a game for yourself? Not making a character that looks like you, but literally for yourself?). He streams a lot and actively communicate with his fans, inviting them to play and giving prizes. 

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

Andrea Pirlo, Juventus FC legend, described the PlayStation in his autobiography like this:

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.

His game mate was Alessandro Nesta, the book says:

Pirlo vs Nesta was a classic duel back in our Milanello days. We’d get in early, have breakfast at 9 am 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 preferred PES, but we can't say he could have liked modern games. 

Gordon Hayward

Gordon Hayward plays for Boston Celtics — a professional basketball player who could have once make it in esports. Gordon loves 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.

Moreover, he appeared as a commentator at some professional tournaments. Check the video where he tells IGN why he loves esports:

Bonus

Ronda Rousey

We're not sure if Demetrious Johnson could've come out safe and sound after a brawl with Ronda Rousey. A professional UFC and WWE fighter, beautiful and smart woman. Fans spotted her at Blizzcon playing the new Battle for Azeroth expansion for World of Warcraft. She also admits buying tons of game collecting items. 

Ronda loves cosplaying and made a gorgeous costume at Blizzcon in 2017:

She's a true World Of Warcraft fan, admitting she teamed up with Vin Diesel to kick some butt during raids after filming Furious 7.