Taco Bell is at it again. Their newest unholy abomination is the naked egg taco, which is a breakfast taco which uses a fried egg as the taco "shell." I'm a little late on this one, since it's been out nation wide since August 31st of this year. On Taco Bell's website, the taglines for this product are "What the shell?" and "The breakfast of your dreams."
The naked egg taco consists of the customer's choice of either bacon or sausage, along with seasoned potatoes, cheddar cheese, and nacho cheese sauce stuffed in the fried egg "shell." A cardboard stand helped keep this all together. I went with the bacon kind. It was rather greasy, not surprisingly. And, of course, despite my mocking of it, I really enjoyed it. I like all the ingredients separately, and combined into one worked just fine. It was a little awkward to eat, and looked strange, but the taste was very good. See my post on January 28, 2017 for more about Taco Bell's other weird creation, the naked chicken chalupa, as well as more information about the chain as a whole.
Since this post was a bit short I decided to also include a list of NFL players who went on to act, in television shows and/or movies. This is not a complete list, obviously. I left out players who just did cameos playing themselves, or who just acted in football-themed movies. I've included representative statistics for them as I could. Bear in mind that stats weren't kept as carefully in the past, even for something as obvious as tackles made. (Sacks, for example, weren't kept officially until 1982.)
1) Ernie "Fats" Holmes. Holmes played as a defensive tackle/nose tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots from 1972-78. He played in 84 games, with 58 starts. He also started for the Steelers in their winning teams in Super Bowls 9 and 10 (1974 and 1975 seasons). As an actor, he was in a 1986 episode of TV's "The A-Team," as well as a memorable turn as a bouncer fighting a vampire in the original version of "Fright Night" (1985).
2) Charles "Bubba" Smith. Smith played from 1967-76 with the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and Houston Oilers as a defensive end/defensive tackle, playing in 111 games, with at least 55 starts (stats are incomplete). He recovered 4 fumbles, and was named to 1 All Pro team and 2 Pro Bowls. He also started for the Colts winning team in Super Bowl 5. He's best known for acting in 6 "Police Academy" movies (1984-89) as well as in "Gremlins 2: The New Batch" (1990), and episodes of "Wonder Woman" (1978) and "Good Times" (1978).
3) John Matuszak. Matuszak was the first overall pick of the 1973 NFL Draft, and went on to play with the Houston Oilers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Oakland Raiders from 1973-81 at defensive end/defensive tackle. He started 106 games, played in 123, and recovered 7 fumbles, including one for a touchdown. He also won a Super Bowl as a starter, with the Raiders in Super Bowl 15. As an actor, he was in such films as "Caveman" (1981), "One Crazy Summer" (1986), and most memorably, as "Sloth" in "The Goonies" (1985).
4) Lawrence Taylor. Taylor played linebacker with the New York Giants from 1981-93, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He played in 184 games (starting 180), and intercepted 9 passes for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also recovered 11 fumbles and accumulated 132.5 sacks, good for 13th all time. He was also named to 8 All Pro teams and 10 Pro Bowls, and started and won 2 Super Bowls--22 and 25. On the big screen he acted in "The Waterboy" (1998) and the "Shaft" remake (2000), among others, and will be in the upcoming "Storm Cell", for which he both acted and co-wrote the screenplay.
5) Dick Butkus. Butkus was another Hall of Fame linebacker, who played with the Chicago Bears from 1965-73. He played in 119 games, and recorded 22 interceptions for 166 yards as well as recovering 27 fumbles, one for a touchdown. He was named to 8 Pro Bowls and 5 All Pro teams. In his second career, he was in "Brian's Song" (1971), "Mother, Jugs, and Speed" (1976), "Johnny Dangerously" (1984), "Gremlins 2" (1990), and "Any Given Sunday" (1999), among others.
6) Terry Bradshaw. Bradshaw quarterbacked the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1970-83, starting 158 games out of 168. He completed 51.9% of his passes for 27,989 yards, with 212 touchdown passes and 210 interceptions, for 7.2 yards per attempt and a total passer rating of 70.9. He also rushed for a further 2257 yards and 32 touchdowns. Most notably, he started and won 4 Super Bowls--9, 10 13, and 14. Highlights of his acting career include "The Cannonball Run" (1981), "Married with Children" (1995-96), and "Failure to Launch" (2006), for which he did a nude scene.
7) Matthew Willig. Willig was an offensive tackle for the New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, and St. Louis Rams from 1993-2005, starting 43 of 153 total games. He recovered 3 fumbles, and played in Super Bowl 38 with the Panthers. As an actor, he appeared in such shows as "The West Wing" (2006), "Dexter" (2007), "NCIS" (2015), and films such as "Year One" (2009) and "We're the Millers" (2013).
8) Bob Sapp. Sapp is best known as a kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and pro wrestler, but he did manage 1 game as a offensive guard with the Minnesota Vikings in 1997. Among the movies he acted in were "Elektra" (2005), "The Longest Yard" (2005), and "Conan the Barbarian" (2011).
9) Carl Weathers. Weathers is another person better known for his acting. But he did play in 8 games with the Oakland Raiders in 1970-71 as a linebacker. Highlights of his acting career include turns in "Magnum Force" (1973), "Predator" (1987), "Action Jackson" (1988), "Happy Gilmore" (1996), and TV's "Arrested Development" (2004-5, 2013). However, he's best known for playing boxer Apollo Creed in the first four "Rocky" movies (1976, 1979, 1983, 1985).
10) Terry Crews. Crews saw action as a linebacker for the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers, and Washington Redskins in 1991, 1993, and 1995, playing a total of 32 games. He accumulated 2 tackles and 1 assist. Some of his acting roles include "Training Day" (2001), "Starsky and Hutch" (2004), "Get Smart" (2008), "Bridesmaids" (2011), the 3 "Expendables" movies (2010-14) and TV's "Arrested Development."
11) Ben Davidson. Davidson played with the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, and Oakland Raiders from 1961-71 as a defensive end/defensive tackle. He was named to 3 Pro Bowls and 1 All Pro team, and won an NFL title with Packers in 1961. Among his acting roles were characters in "Behind the Green Door" (1972), "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), and "Necessary Roughness" (1991)
12) Bill Goldberg. Goldberg is clearly best known for being a pro wrestler, but he did have a brief NFLcareer with the Atlanta Falcons from 1992-94 as a defensive tackle/nose tackle. He started 1 out of 14 games, and accumulated 11 tackles. Highlights of his acting career include "Universal Soldier: The Return" (1999), "The Longest Yard" (2005), "Santa's Slay" (2005), and "American Satan" (2017).
13) Alex Karras. Karras played from 1958-62, 1964-70 with the Detroit Lions as a defensive tackle. In 161 games he intercepted 4 passes, and recovered 16 fumbles. He was named to 3 All Pro teams, and 4 Pro Bowls. Among his acting projects were roles in "Blazing Saddles" (1974), "Porky's" (1981), "Buffalo '66" (1998), and TV's 'Webster," for which he and his wife were co-creators as well.
14) Merlin Olsen. Olsen was a Hall of Fame defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams, playing in 208 games from 1962-76. He recorded 1 interception (for a touchdown), and 9 fumble recoveries. Incredibly, in his 15 years he was named to 14 Pro Bowls. Among his roles were turns in "The Undefeated" (1969) and on TV's "Little House on the Prairie" (1977-81) and "Father Murphy" (1981-83).
15) Fred "The Hammer" Williamson. Williamson played from 1960-67, with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Oakland Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs as a defensive back. He was named to 2 All Pro teams and 3 Pro Bowls, and accumulated 36 interceptions for 479 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also was a member of the Chiefs in Super Bowl 1, after infamously talking a lot of trash before the game (and getting knocked out of the game, late). Among his acting roles were in TV's "Star Trek" (1969), and in films like "MASH" (1970), "Hell Up in Harlem" (1973), "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996) and "Vegas Vampires" (2007). I also learned he's written 12 movies, and directed 23! (I think that many/most of these were direct-to-video films.)
16) Fred Dryer. Dryer played with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams from 1969-81 as a defensive end. He intercepted 1 pass (for a touchdown), and recovered 20 fumbles, and played in 1 Pro Bowl. He also started in Super Bowl 14 with the Rams. Finally, he's the holder of the record for most safeties scored in a game, with 2, versus the Green Bay Packer in 1973. Acting highlights include roles in "Cannonball Run 2" (1984) and on television shows like "CHiPs" (1982), "Cheers" (1982-87), "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (2015), and being the star of "Hunter" (1984-91)
17) Ed Marinaro. Marinaro played for the Minnesota Vikings, New York Jets, and Seattle Seahawks from 1972-77 at running back. He rushed for 1319 yards and 6 touchdowns, and accumulated 1176 receiving yards and 7 more touchdowns. He started 30 out of 58 games. He played for the Vikings in Super Bowl 8 (and possibly 9, the records are incomplete). Acting highlights were roles in "Queens Logic" (1991), and on TV's "Laverne and Shirley" (1980-81), and a starring role in "Hill Street Blues" (1981-86).
18) Lyle Alzado. Alzado played defensive end/defensive tackle from 1971-85 with the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. He started 195 out of 196 total games, and was named to 2 All Pro teams and 2 Pro Bowls. He recovered 20 fumbles (with 1 touchdown), and started in 2 Super Bowls--12 with the Broncos (loss), and 18 with the Raiders (win). On the screen, he appeared in such films as "Ernest Goes to Camp" (1987), "Tapeheads" (1988), and "Destroyer" (1988).
19) Rosey Grier. Grier's NFL career lasted from 1955-66, with the New York Giants and Los Angeles Rams, as a defensive end/defensive tackle. He played in 141 games and recovered 13 fumbles, and was named to 1 All Pro team and 2 Pro Bowls. He acted in such films as "In Cold Blood" (1967) "The Thing With Two Heads" (1972), "Rabbit Test" (1978) and TV's "The Simpsons" (1999). ("The Things With Two Heads" is about a bigot (Ray Milland) who's surgically grafted onto the same body with Rosey Grier's character. See Google Images, (or the film itself) for amusing photos.)
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