ESPYs hosts through the years

Miller got the first two cracks of hosting the ESPYs, doing so in 1993 and 1994. The standup comedian and former host of “Weekend Update” on “Saturday Night Live” had the emceeing skills, and comedy resume, to do the award show gig. He also evidently had an affinity for sports, as a few years later he would become one of the commentators for “Monday Night Football.” That was a little weird.

Goodman has the build of an athlete, and indeed he played football in college before an injury ended his career. He then took up acting, becoming a beloved character actor, most notably as one of the stars of “Roseanne.” Goodman doesn’t seem like the first choice to host an award show, and indeed he never got another chance to host the ESPYs.

Speaking of former athletes, Danza was a boxer before getting into acting. He also, of course, starred in the sports film “The Garbage Picking, Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon.” It’s all right if you don’t remember that one. Danza was not the boss at the fourth ESPYs, but he was the host.

Foxworthy soared to fame with his “you might be a redneck” routine. In fact, it’s still pretty much the only thing most people remember him for. That being said, standing on a stage and making jokes was certainly in his wheelhouse, and Foxworthy wasn’t exactly likely to get the gig hosting the Oscars or the MTV Music Awards.

MacDonald loves sports. He had a sports-related comedy show briefly, and when he had a sitcom he played a former hockey player. However, he’s also a bit of an odd duck, and you are either on his wavelength or likely to get alienated. Considering that MacDonald was never asked to host again, it’s easy to imagine him not exactly fitting in with the ESPN audience.

Jackson is the Billy Crystal of the ESPYs. He’s hosted a whopping four times in three different venues. The prolific actor hosted the last show in New York, the first in Los Angeles and one of the two that it did in Las Vegas. Not too shabby.

The first of the two ESPYs to take place in Vegas was hosted by Smits. These days, Vegas is the home of the NHL Awards, but the ESPYs stay there was short-lived. Also, Smits was kind of an unusual choice, considering the fact he’s neither a hugely popular actor or related to sports in any clear way. Well, as we learned from the most recent Oscars, it can be hard to find hosts.

Foxx had a great year in 2004. He starred in “Ray,” for which he won an Oscar, and also “Collateral,” which got him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Foxx also hosted the ESPYs that year and then hosted it a second time the next year. He hasn’t hosted it since, perhaps because he is too busy trying to beat Shazam.

Weirdly, only one of the first 16 ESPYs has its own Wikipedia page, and that’s the 13th edition hosted by Perry. Having made more money than he could ever spend from “Friends,” Perry could do as he pleased and apparently he was down to host the ESPYs. Also performing that year? A little band called Destiny’s Child.

Talk about a blast from the past. The idea of Armstrong hosting anything at this point seems absurd. In 2006, though, Armstrong was not yet a disgraced athlete stripped of his Tour de France wins. He was the guy who made people actually care about bike racing. The first athlete to host the sports awards show, in hindsight, was a poor choice.

This is the only time that the ESPYs has had two hosts. LeBron, having acted and being a host on “Saturday Night Live,” could have probably done it himself. Instead, he was paired with the longtime talk show host. Neither hosted again, and every ESPYs host has flown solo since, though we don’t know if it’s because they were unhappy with the two-host concept.

Timberlake can do it all, or at least he tries to. After making his name as a musician, both in 'N Sync and as a solo artist, he got into acting and, evidently, hosting. Prior to hosting the ESPYs, Timberlake hosted an MTV Movie Awards and a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards.

Meyers is the most recent star to get a second chance at it, as he hosted in both 2010 and 2011. Interestingly, this was before Meyers was the host of “Late Night.” He was still working at “Saturday Night Live,” where he was the longtime head writer and host of “Weekend Update.” That means two “Weekend Update” hosts have also emceed two ESPYs.

Riggle got the honor of hosting the 20th ESPYs. A former Marine, Riggle first rose to fame as a correspondent on “The Daily Show” before his acting career took off. He also has done plenty of sports-related content. After Kimmel stopped doing picks during FOX’s pregame NFL show, Riggle would eventually take over.

Hamm may have played the dapper Don Draper on “Mad Men,” but he’s not much like Draper in real life. Instead, he’s a comedy fan who also seems to love sports. In particular, Hamm is a St. Louis sports diehard. He even loves the Blues, which finally paid off for him in 2019.

Did you know Drake likes sports? At the very least, he seems to enjoy basketball, though his allegiances seem to vary. The purported Raptors superfan has Steph Curry’s number tattooed on his body, and he seems to be willing to go where the wind blows him when the Raptors aren’t at the top of their game. Anyway, the rapper also got to host the ESPYs, which seems like something he would be really excited to do.

Believe it or not, McHale played football at the University of Washington. He decided comedy was more his speed, and he went on to rise to fame as the host of “The Soup,” where he made jokes and showed clips of reality shows. Those skills certainly fit in perfectly as an awards show host as well, as long as the people in the crowd are willing to poke some fun at themselves.

When Cena was breaking into pro wrestling, nobody would have guessed he’d become a legit star. However, Cena has followed in the footsteps of Dwayne Johnson, only he seems more interested in comedy than action. Cena has stolen the show in a couple of films, but he also impressed in his surprise stint as the host of the ESPYs.

The ESPYs went back to the athlete well for the 25th show. By 2017 Peyton was retired, but he’s remained ubiquitous thanks to all his work as a pitchman. People liked him as a “Saturday Night Live” host, which is what opened the door for stuff like this.

Yes, it was the 26th ESPYs before a woman hosted. Patrick is used to being a trailblazer though. She was the only woman on the Indy Car tour and became the first woman to win an Indy event. Patrick also raced in NASCAR and became the face of Go Daddy for a while, increasing her name recognition.

Closing out the list is Morgan, who got the 2019 ESPYs gig. Considering that he almost died in a truck accident a few years prior, it’s nice that the comedian is able to host an event like this. If you’ve seen Morgan, particularly on a talk show, you know he can be a wild card. The idea of him hosting the ESPYs has the chance to get pretty crazy.