A Dodgers MVP, a Trump-loving NBA player and an ex-NFL linebacker: Here are the athletes of the 2024 election

The ‘shut up and dribble’ crowd is once again being challenged by former athletes with political aspirations.

This year, both parties have former pros vying for senate seats: Democratic former NFL linebacker and current US Congressman Colin Allred in Texas, as well as Republican Trump loyalists like Los Angeles Dodgers legend Steve Garvey in California and former NBA player Royce White in Minnesota.

Facing incumbents Ted Cruz (Republican – Texas) and Amy Kloubuchar (Democrat – Minnesota), as well as long-time congressman Adam Schiff (Democrat – California), all three are considered underdogs. But they are part of a growing trend in America, where it was once rare to see jocks moving into the political arena.

Late President and former Michigan football star Gerald Ford was seen as an anomaly when he got into politics in the 1940s and was later teased for supposedly playing ‘without a helmet’ by then-President Lyndon Johnson. Since then, Knicks legend Bill Bradley, Bills quarterback Jack Kemp and MLB pitcher Jim Bunning all emerged as powerful US legislators, thereby normalizing athletes in office. 

And whereas Vikings defensive tackle Alan Page once stunned football fans with a successful run for the Minnesota Supreme Court, Americans have since been unfazed as Caitlyn Jenner, Tommy Tuberville, Herschel Walker and even bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger became Republican candidates, albeit with varying degrees of success.

Several recent White House administrations have appointed well-known college athletes to prominent positions. For instance, former Harvard basketball player and academic All-American Arne Duncan served as Barack Obama’s Secretary of Education.

Then there’s one-time University of Connecticut quarterback John McEntee, who went from Fox News’ social media team to become Donald Trump’s personal aide and ultimately landed an Oval Office gig.

McEntee was forced to resign in 2018 because alleged gambling debts jeopardized his security clearance, but he has since returned to Team Trump and now works on The Heritage Foundation’s controversial Project 2025.

A number of well-known sports stars have gotten minor, somewhat symbolic roles in White House administrations. Schwarzenegger was George H. W. Bush’s chairman on Physical Fitness and Sports before being succeeded by sprint legend Florence Griffith Joyner. In more recent years the position was held by Walker and even Yankees Hall-of-Fame closer Mariano Rivera.

But some athletes want to use their fame to get an elected position, as opposed to an appointed one, and few are as famous as Garvey is in California.

A 10-time All-Star, Garvey won a World Series and a National League MVP award during his baseball career, although he fell just short of induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame. And even those unfamiliar with the four-time Gold Glove-winning first baseman likely knew about his love life, which became tabloid fodder towards the end of his playing career.

Already a divorced dad when he retired as a member of the San Diego Padres in 1987, Garvey fathered two more children with two different women in 1988 and 1989, only to wed another, Candace Thomas.

An LA Times headline from February of 1989 revealed: ‘2 Women Say Garvey Got Them Pregnant; He Marries a Third.’

The scandal was later crystallized in the minds of baseball fans with a bumper sticker referencing his less-celebrated tenure in San Diego: ‘Steve Garvey is Not My Padre.’

Now 75, Garvey survived the bad press to launch his political career one year ago, only to have three of his estranged children reveal the sad details of their relationship.

‘In our childhoods, multiple efforts were made through attorneys to arrange a meeting or even a phone call with Mr. Garvey, but he declined every opportunity,’ two of his children wrote the LA Times in February. ‘Thus, we have never known him, and our only relationships with him were through the family court system.’

In response to the LA Times, Garvey insisted the scandals have helped teach him about hardship.

‘These experiences have equipped me to better understand the adversities others face in their lives,’ he wrote, ‘and to serve the public with empathy and integrity, something that has been lacking in Washington, D.C.’

For better or worse, Allred is far less known within Texas than Garvey is in California.

A native of Dallas, Allred had an impressive athletic career at Hillcrest High School, where he played football, basketball and baseball in addition to being elected class president.

He’d remain in state for college, playing linebacker at Baylor University, where he’d be named defensive MVP and team captain by 2005 while winning back-to-back Academic All-Big 12 honors.

But as impressive as his college career was with the Bears, Allred went undrafted in 2006 before signing a free-agent deal with the Tennessee Titans. 

He managed to win a roster spot and did make two starts in 2009. Still, Allred was never a major force on defense in Nashville, where most of his time was spent on special teams. A neck injury ultimately ended his four-year NFL career after he’d recorded 46 tackles and earned a reputation as a solid role player, if not a regular contributor.

So when he graduated from the prestigious UC Berkeley School of Law before taking a position with Battleground Texas — a PAC aimed to improving Democrats’ electoral odds within the state — Allred went unnoticed, nationally.

It was only after working in Barack Obama’s Department of Housing and Urban Development as well as a stint litigating voting rights as a civil rights attorney that the married father of two soon found his political calling.

In 2018, Allred won a hotly contested primary before challenging Pete Sessions in Texas’ 32nd district. Stunningly, Allred pulled off the upset to oust an incumbent Republican who’d served in Congress since 1997.

Along with former Ohio State and Indianapolis Colts receiver Anthony Gonzalez, Allred was one of two ex-NFL players to be sworn in with the 116th US Congress.

But truthfully, the 41-year-old’s football career would nearly be a non-topic, were it not for Cruz’s frequent comments on the subject. In football, Cruz sees an on-ramp to a favorite subject: Trans athletes in women’s sports.

‘It’s not right to have a biological male competing against our daughters,’ Cruz said in October. ‘And Colin Allred is an NFL football player. He knows full well.

‘Can you imagine having an NFL linebacker tackle your daughter? That’s what he voted to allow happen.’

The 53-year-old’s mention of a ‘vote’ refers to symbolic GOP bills on the subject that Allred opposed over the years as he went on two win consecutive re-election campaigns.

Texas has already passed laws preventing trans student athletes from participating in girls sports and Allred has stated flatly he does not support boys in girls sports, which he dismissed as ‘ridiculous.’

But that hasn’t stopped Cruz and his supporters from putting that exact notion in the minds of voters.

One ad produced by the Truth and Courage PAC claimed ‘Colin Allred could have stopped men from competing in women’s sports’ before showing an Allred lookalike tackling a young girl in a flag football game. 

While Cruz paints Allred as a far-left liberal, White has faced accusations of  misogyny, homophobia and anti-Semitism during his brief political career. 

The state’s ‘Mr. Basketball’ as a high school senior in 2009, White accepted a scholarship to Minnesota but quickly dropped out after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct and theft for taking $100 worth of clothes and allegedly pushing a mall security officer to the ground.

He then transferred to Iowa State, where he quickly became one of the most dynamic players in the country. Although he was never a great shooter, the 6-foot-8 power forward grabbed 9.3 rebounds a game while scoring 13.4 points and adding another five assists a night.

White was so skilled as a ball handler and passer that he was taken by the Houston Rockets with the 16th pick of the 2012 NBA Draft. 

Unfortunately for White, who has been open about battling mental health issues, things did not work out in the NBA.

Due to his intense fear of flying, the Rockets agreed to allow White to travel by bus. Still, he missed several practices and refused an assignment to the club’s G-League affiliate.

Long-time NBA executive Daryl Morey, the man who picked White with the Rockets, has described him as ‘the worst first-round pick ever,’ and that may not be an exaggeration.

White would move on to the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings, but managed to appear in only three NBA games while failing to score a single point.

Since then he’s played professionally in Canada and Ice Cube’s Big3 league, where he recently appeared with Trump’s name written on the side of his head. He’s even flirted with an MMA career.

But White’s primary focus these days has become conservative politics and his mission of drawing more voters of color to the Republican party. The obstacle for White has been his past statements on any number of issues, including women.

‘Look, let’s just be frank,’ White once told podcaster and MAGA enthusiast Steve Bannon. ‘Women have become too mouthy. As the black man in the room, I’ll say that.’

Furthermore, the anti-corruption crusader used campaign funds from his doomed 2022 House race to pay for an all-night hangout at a Miami strip club – something he blames on a staffer who ‘used the wrong card,’ as he told DailyMail.com in May. 

In total, White blew more than $100,000 in campaign dollars on strippers, clothing and mysterious wire transfers, according to FEC filings.

Despite the negative press, White still won the GOP primary. 

As for their chances, all three face stiff completion.

Schiff has consistently polled around 20 points ahead of Garvey, who is seen by many within the Republican Party as having little-to-no chance of beating the current Congressman in left-leaning California.

‘He’s not ready for prime time,’ GOP strategist Mike Madrid told The New York Times of Garvey. ‘This is just an attempt to get someone with name recognition to carry the Republican banner down the field under heavy machine gun fire, and everyone knows it.’

White, meanwhile, trails Kloubuchar by around 10-to-12 points, depending on the poll. 

Allred, too, has been trailing, but by a far slimmer margin: Usually around four or five percentage points.

But even if he falls short, Allred stands out as part of the Democrats’ new focus on attracting young men — an area where they’ve lost ground to Republicans.

Rather than relying on his liberal credentials earned during the Obama years, Allred has also spoken of his desire to fight Trump supporters in Congress on January 6, 2021: ‘I took off my suit jacket and I was prepared to defend the House floor from the mob.’

And he hasn’t been afraid to go after Cruz’s perceived cowardice, reminding a debate audience that ‘Cruz was hiding in a supply closet’ on January 6 — a claim the Senator previously denied.

Whatever the outcome of the election, Allred has already made a bigger name for himself by competing with the long-serving Senator in deep-red Texas than he ever did as a football player. And while he remains an underdog, it is important to remember that Allred has already flipped one red seat to blue.

‘To run against an incumbent senator in a Republican-heavy state aligns perfectly with his lifelong journey,’ Matt Wilson, a lifelong friend of Allred’s told the Texas Tribune. ‘The cards have been stacked against him multiple times. But Colin thrives in that situation, and I feel like he’s going to find a way to grind out a win again.’

SOME OTHER JOCKS WHO HAVE RUN FOR OFFICE:

• Burgess Owens — Super Bowl champion and long-time NFL defensive back for the Jets and Raiders is now a Republican US Congressman from Utah.
• Tommy Tuberville — Long-time college football coach best known for his tenure at Auburn is now a pro-Trump US Senator from Alabama.
• Caitlyn Jenner — An Olympic gold medalist in the men’s decathlon, the former Bruce Jenner’s gubernatorial run in California resulted in a 13th-place finish.
• Steve Largent — One of the most prolific receivers in NFL history, the former Seattle Seahawks star was a Republican US Congressman from Oklahoma from 1994 until 2002.
• Jim Bunning — Prior to winning congressional and senatorial elections in Kentucky, Bunning was among the best pitchers in baseball while being named to nine All-Star teams.
• Jack Kemp — The former Bills quarterback was technically a Republican but was famously moderate in Congress, often siding with Democrats on labor issues given his own history forging the AFL players’ union. He was also George H.W. Bush’s Housing Secretary and Bob Dole’s running mate during his ill-fated White House campaign in 1996.
• Bill Bradley — A legendary player at Princeton and with the Knicks, Bradley was the AP College Player of the Year and a two-time NBA champion before becoming a Democratic Senator from New Jersey.
• JC Watts — Oklahoma quarterback and former CFL star went on to become a clergyman and Republican Congressman.
• Sharice Davids — The Democratic Congresswoman from Kansas has a 1-1 pro record as an MMA fighter.
• Dave Bing — Legendary Syracuse and Pistons guard went on to have a successful business career before becoming the 74th major of Detroit. The 80-year-old remains a prominent Democratic figure in the state, even in retirement.
• Ben Nighthorse Campbell — The former Republican Congressman from Colorado was previously a member of San Jose State’s judo team and even competed at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
• Anthony Gonzalez — An impressive career at Ohio State helped this wide receiver get drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Later, as a Republican Congressman, Gonzalez voted to impeach Trump, which prompted the GOP to challenge him in a primary. Ultimately Gonzalez decided against running for re-election.
• Kevin Johnson — An elite NBA guard with the Sacramento Kings, KJ, as he was known, later became mayor of his hometown of Sacramento. However, the Democrat’s post-basketball career has included allegations of corruption and the revelation that he was accused of sexual abuse by a teenage girl in 1995. Johnson has denied the charges.
• Walter Johnson — One of the greatest pitchers in baseball history nearly won a congressional seat as a Republican in 1940.
• Michelle Kwan — The legendary figure skater is currently the US Ambassador to Belize.
• Jim Jordan — The Ohio Republican and former Buckeyes assistant wrestling coach has been one of Trump’s staunchest supporters in Congress.
• Tom Osborne — A three-time national title winner while coaching Nebraska’s football team, he went on to become a Republican Congressman before a failed run for governor in 2006.
• Alan Page — A native of Canton, Ohio — where he is also enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — this Vikings defensive tackle and 1971 NFL MVP was elected as a Minnesota Supreme Court judge in 1992.
• Jon Runyan Sr. — Dominant NFL offensive lineman became a Republican Congressman from New Jersey but dropped out of politics in 2014.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger — The most famous bodybuilder ever later became a moderate Republican and environmentalist before serving as California’s Governor from 2003 to 2011. We’re told he also did a few films as well.
• Heath Shuler — Tennessee quarterback and Washington Redskins bust served as a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina from 2007 until 2013.
• Jesse Ventura — Schwarzenegger’s co-star in ‘Predator,’ this wrestling legend was Minnesota’s Governor as an independent from 1999 until 2003.
• Herschel Walker — Heisman-winning running back at Georgia and former NFL star had a disastrous senatorial run in 2022, which resulted in his defeat in a runoff.
• Dwayne Woodruff — Another judge with an NFL pedigree, Woodruff was a Steelers cornerback from 1979 until 1990.
• Tito Ortiz — MMA legend and Trump supporter served on the Huntington Beach City Council in 2020 and 2021.
• Mario Cuomo — New York’s Democratic Governor from 1983 until 1994 was once a minor-league ball player, who admittedly never learned to hit a curveball.
• George Weah — The soccer great and 25th President of Liberia remains the only African winner of the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year.
• Manny Pacquiao — The boxing icon served in the House of Representatives in his native Philippines (2010 to 2016) before becoming senator (2016 to 2022). He later ran for president, but the conservative Christian was defeated by the son of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. 
• Imran Khan — This former cricketer and the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan has faced assassination attempts and arrest on anti-corruption charges since his term ended prematurely in 2022. He has also accused the US of orchestrating his political downfall.