7 More Athletes Who Should Turn Their Careers Into Scripted Dramas

It's been a big week for the intersection of professional athletics and scripted drama: on Monday, the news hit that Arnold Schwarzenegger is developing a series based on his years as a competitive bodybuilder; yesterday, we learned that retired figure skater Tara Lipinski is too. If this is going to become a TV trend, who better to predict which other athletes' life stories are compelling enough to merit fictionalization? Someone who doesn't care about sports, that's who! After all, such shows should be aiming to do what Friday Night Lights did: win over the non-sports fan with good stories and human drama.

Here are the seven sports heroes and heroines who should either be buying Final Draft or at least making friends with someone who has it. (And yes, I know The Rock is conspicuously absent: that's because he was ahead of this week's events, having started working on a drama series based on his early years in wrestling all the way back in 2011, and I'm still hoping something might come of it.)

Michael Sam

Compelling Backstory: Sam came out of the closet in college and, unfortunately, decided to "step away" from football after short stints in the NFL and CFL. Maybe his fictional counterpart can have a better time in the pros if...it's set fifty years in the future?

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: American Crime's Trevor Jackson.

Serena Williams

Compelling Backstory: Other than having been groomed basically since birth, along with her sister, for tennis stardom, ending up the greatest athlete of all time? I guess nothing much.

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: Parenthood's Joy Bryant.

Jim Abbott

Compelling Backstory: He pitched ten seasons as a Major League Baseball player despite having been born without a right hand.

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: TBA: this provides a perfect opportunity to go against current casting practice and provide a showcase for an actor with a physical disability.

Sheryl Swoopes

Compelling Backstory: She was the first player ever drafted to the WNBA, and in 2005 became one of the first internationally famous athletes to come out as gay.

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: Scream Queens star Keke Palmer.

Sean Avery

Compelling Backstory: He was one of the few white Canadian men to break into professional hockey. ...Just kidding, that ain't new. But, unlike most of his colleagues, he did intern at Vogue! (And these days, he could use a reason for people to think well of him.)

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: CW superhero-verse recurring player Robbie Amell.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Compelling Backstory: She won six medals across four different Olympics, nbd.

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: Regina King.

Charles Barkley

Compelling Backstory: In addition to being one of the NBA's all-time best players, he's become an extraordinarily colourful colour commentator, among other adventures to be less proud of.

Credible Casting Suggestion For The Fictionalized Protagonist: Donald Faison.