20 athletes with interesting hobbies during the offseason

Hobby: Bingo

It might be hard to believe that Cristiano Ronaldo would spend his free time doing anything other than training to maintain his status as one of the best soccer players in the world. However, the soccer legend enjoys a game of bingo occasionally. 

"Playing bingo can be very exciting," he said. "It can be very exciting because you can be there waiting for a long time for just the one number to make the game complete.

Hobby: Collecting Legos

Jason Hammel , former pitcher for MLB teams like the Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals, is a kid at heart. The baseball player has admitted in the past that he still collects Legos and hopes to pass them down to his son one day.  

Hobby: Rapping

Many athletes are also talented musicians, and Damian Lillard is one of them. In addition to being an eight-time NBA all-star, the Milwaukee point guard  is a rapper. He's released four albums since 2016 and has secured big collaborations with rap icons such as Lil Wayne.

Hobby: Meditating

Tennis is a fast-paced and technical sport, so it should be no surprise that some of the greatest tennis players experience mental pressure during matches. The same is true for Novak Djokovic. However, Djoker has found a way to calm his mind between sets with mediation.

Hobby: Bowling

Mookie Betts is known for smashing baseballs over the wall during MLB season, and when he's not playing next to his teammates Shohei and Freddie, he can be found in a bowling alley. “Bowling is in my blood,” he said, later describing the game as "complex." 

“You have to be creative. There’s a lot of visualization when it comes to bowling, just like baseball.”

Hobby: Bowling

There's no doubt that Chris Paul loves basketball and the NBA. But that's not the only sport he's passionate about. The two-time Olympic gold medalist is also really into bowling. In a 2019 interview, he explained why he plans to always have the activity in his life.

“I [have] a 79-year-old great uncle who still bowls like three, four days a week,” Paul said. “Basketball? Not so much. I’m not going to be hoopin’ when I’m 79 years old; you can cancel that.”

Hobby: Collecting socks

Some people enjoy collecting fine toys, cars, or baseball cards, but Robert Griffin III, or RG3, prefers socks as his collector's item of choice. He loves them so much that he apparently handed out socks instead of candy on Halloween.

Hobby: Jigsaw puzzles

You shouldn't be surprised to hear Rob Gronkowski is a big fan of jigsaw puzzles. "It just lowered my stress levels just the way, you know, I was feeling," he said in 2019. The former NFL superstar also said it's helped challenge his brain. "Just started improving my, you know, problem-solving skills, too, on top of it. It was crazy. My brain was just clicking. It was just going. It was all on wheels."

Hobby: Roller skating

This former NBA point showed off his skills on the basketball court during his time in the league, but when he wasn't splashing three-pointers, Rajon Rondo would spend time roller skating in his hometown of Louisville.  

"In [the] summer, I go to the rink three or four times a week and mess around," he once said. "It helps me relax. I don't fall, but you can't skate during the season because you might get hurt. Nothing in my contract says that, but I know the team doesn't like it."

Hobby: Collecting shoes

Since Joe Johnson is a former basketball player, it makes sense for the legend to have a massive sneaker collection.

Hobby: Photography

Larry Fitzgerald is a man of many passions, including football, traveling, charity work, and, surprisingly, photography. "It's an awesome way to capture the moment," he once said. "The only time that has happened is that time, during that lighting. ... Eventually, when you look back at that picture, it tells a story -- and one only you can tell."

Hobby: Helicopter flying

Russell Wilson is more than an NFL quarterback. The Ohio native is also a helicopter pilot. However, he revealed he stopped flying after the unfortunate death of Kobe and Gigi Bryant.

Hobby: Content creation

Golf is a popular hobby for many professional athletes, but Austin Reaves of the Los Angeles Lakers takes his tee time to a whole other level. When he's on the green, the guard records videos of him performing trick shots and posts them to his YouTube channel, Hillbilly Bogey.

Hobby: Fencing

We know David Beckham as an exceptional soccer player, but did you know he enjoys fencing? Will Smith revealed in a 2008 interview that he fences alongside David and Tom Cruise from time to time. "David and I go to his home and just do fencing. It’s a lot of fun," he said.

Hobby: Listening to classical music

Pau Gasol is more than a fan of basketball — he also loves classical music. The former NBA player learned piano at a young age in Barcelona. After joining the Los Angeles Lakers, the basketball icon began attending the opera and fell in love. He's even a board member of the San Antonio Symphony.

Hobby: Raising pigeons

Mike Tyson is a peculiar man, so it might not be surprising to learn that the boxer has raised pigeons in his coop for quite some time. In 2023, he traveled to Poland to buy 100 of them from a local breeder in a Polish village.

Hobby: Spearfishing

We know Tiger Woods loves to golf, but that's not all he's passionate about. "I free dive and spearfish. That's what I love to do," the golf legend said during a chat with Jada Pinkett Smith.

Hobby: Opera singing

When Justin Tucker isn't kicking for the Baltimore Ravens, the NFL player is busy singing opera. A few years ago, he revealed how he fell in love with the hobby. "Part of my degree requirements was that I had to take voice lessons," he explained in NFL Films. "I found out that it was something I really liked to do, and it was a style I never really thought about before."

Hobby: Acting

Since his time as "Beast Mode" in the NFL, Marshawn Lynch has built an impressive acting resume. He was in a 2023 film called Bottoms Up, a recent episode of Lopez vs Lopez, and is currently filming the action films With Love, The Pickup, and Eenie Meanie.

Hobby: Guitar

Chris Ogbonnaya isn't just an amatuer guitar player. The former Cleveland Browns player is good. Like, really good.