Michael Phelps on "Saturday Night Live" and the Funniest Athletes Who've Hosted the Show

Some Athletes Can Make You Guffaw and Others Can Make You Wince in Pain when They Try to Be Funny

Based on the average percentage, most athletes don't have the comedic aptitude to host "Saturday Night Live" or be able to help us guffaw in one sketch for an hour and a half let alone six or seven. Yet, "SNL" has never worried about that and just went with marquee names in every notable field. You have to give credit to the writers for making some guests who really didn't have a single comedy bone in their body look at least halfway amusing. With Michael Phelps scheduled to host the season premiere of the show on September 13, you have to wonder if the current "SNL" writers have the aptitude of the veteran writing teams who managed to make many an athlete funny...or at least mostly.

If you go by the track record of more recent athletes who've hosted the show, this may be the best group of writers for the task of making Michael Phelps hilarious. Let's face it: Phelps' personality isn't one you automatically think of as making you capable of a belly laugh, or even with a snicker. His personality usually brings on thoughts of intenseness, thoughtful concentration and perhaps slight bemusement at being able to shrug off an athletic feat that was monumental in human history. Obviously, the writers will have a real challenge there to start off their new season with when the creative mind can get a little rusty after a summer break.

But "SNL's" track record of athletes hosting the show can be whittled down to about a dozen in the show's history. Only half arguably were funny enough where you'd want to see them back on the show. One was god awful and another had great comedic potential, yet ironically became one of the most notorious figures in the world.