The Secret Life of Sporting Superstars

When your vocation involves shooting hoops, sacking quarterbacks or slamming home runs over the fences of Fenway Park, the last thing that you probably want to do at the end of training is try to relax by playing sports like the rest of us do when we clock off..

As such, there is a huge list of NFL, NBA and MLB stars with a list of hobbies that couldn't be more removed from their everyday vocations – whether they involve spending hours in front of the computer, or thousands of pounds on the latest equipment.

Two of baseball's real characters, Josh Reddick and C.J. Wilson, readily admit to their true passions lying away from the diamond, and boast huge personal interests in wrestling and motor sorts respectively. Reddick famously grown a beard in competition with WWE star Daniel Bryan in the past, whilst Wilson owns a championship-winning IMSA team – but at least their supporters and managers will be delighted that their hobbies keep them out of the line of danger.

Unfortunately for Dallas Mavericks supporters, this is not the case as far as Deron Williams is concerned, and the point-guard most likely gave new coach Rick Carlisle plenty to think about before he signed the former Utah Jazz player from the Nets when he admitted that enjoys a spot of cliff-diving in his spare time.

Understandably however, most famous faces would rather relax within the privacy of their own homes, and Tim Duncan – who is renowned for indulging in a spot of 'Dungeons and Dragons' in his down-time – offers his fans a much safer (if slightly less cool) past-time for fans to indulge in and feel closer to their hero.

Someone else who should have considered staying at home is Jordan Cameron, the Miami Dolphins tight-end, whose interest in poker saw him banned from appearing in a recent poker tournament because it took place in a casino. As appearing in these venues breaks strict NFL rules, Jordan would have been better off sticking to playing online poker at a site such as Lucky Nugget Casino, which offers a wide range of online casino games and market-leading slots that would even give his fans a chance to to play alongside him.

But perhaps the most unusual and unexpected hobby comes courtesy of George Johnson, the Tampa Bay defensive end who spends his time surfing the net by watching online dog shows. For one of the game's more obvious hard men, this hobby certainly seems bizarre – and with two pit-bulls of his own, Johnson even admits to getting more nervous before his dogs' shows than he does before taking to the field on a Sunday.

So regardless of whether you can dunk, pick a curveball or bench-press your own bodyweight, the truth is that you might have more in common with your heroes than you ever thought – you may just have to look a little deeper to find out how.