Some might be questioning Donovan McNabb's placement on the list, but it is undeniable how much of an impact he had on games throughout his career. McNabb was known for single-handedly shifting the momentum of a game by flawlessly delivering a dime down the field or moving his 6'3, 240lb frame like a freight train directly into a linebacker's path. While his success might not have translated to diamonds in the shape of any NFL logos, his peers and those he played against are glad that they don't have to play opposite of him anymore. McNabb took his talents to Syracuse University where he played both football and basketball. And while the school is known for its elite basketball program, McNabb chose to represent the Syracuse Orangemen to prove that he was a worthy pocket-passer. McNabb proved just that winning the Big East Offensive Player of the Year Award from 1996-98 and leading the Orange to an Orange Bowl appearance his senior year.
After being so dominant on a collegiate level, Donovan McNabb was drafted 2nd overall in the 1999 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles where he would become a Philly fan-favorite for years to come. In his first full season as a starter, McNabb finished second in NFL MVP voting in 2000 and even led the Eagles to their first playoff berth since 1996. In 2004, McNabb led the Eagles to Super Bowl XXXIX but came up short against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Following that season, the 6x Pro Bowler was plagued with injuries from 2005 to 2007. In 2010, McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins and played a single season with the Minnesota Vikings in 2011 before retiring. With 37,257 career passing yards under his belt and a touchdown to interception ratio of 234-117, Donovan McNabb has proven to be amongst the elite quarterbacks of the modern era of football.
Celebrities are no strangers to changing their looks for a role. And in some instances, they have to get pretty extreme. From 500-calorie-a-day diets to drinking pints of ice cream, Actors and actresses know what it takes to change their bodies in preparation for a new film.
Charlize Theron is no stranger to gaining and losing weight for movie roles, as we remember her transformation in Monster. Charlize Theron gained close to 50 pounds for her role as Marlo in Tully. Theron said that “for the first time in my life I was eating so much processed foods and I drank way too much sugar. … I remember having to set my alarm in the middle of the night in order to just maintain the weight.”
You’re used Chris Hemsworth's hulk-like figure in Thor, but In the Heart of the Sea required a totally different diet. The movie required the cast members lose a ton of weight to make their stuck-at-sea plight more believable. Chris Hemsworth said there were days when all he ate was one boiled egg, a couple of crackers, and a celery stick.
Anne Hathaway wanted to get serious for her role in Les Misérables, as she was playing Fantine, a starving prostitute with tuberculosis. So Anne Hathaway went on a diet of “rabbit food” to drop 25 pounds. Hathaway explained her diet was essentially just starving herself, but she didn’t want to give details, as she doesn’t want to encourage anyone to copy her emaciated look. She did note that she “just had to stop eating for a total of 13 days shooting,” however. And at one point, her bones became so frail that she reportedly broke her arm.
Matthew McConaughey's portrayal of Ron Woodruff in Dallas Buyers Club, a man with HIV/AIDS, was spot-on, earning him the title of best actor at the Oscars. But it also required a serious physical transformation. Matthew McConaughey said he lost 38 pounds for the role. During filming, he said he lost a lot of energy from eating so little — and he hit plenty of plateaus along the way. Finally, with a strict diet, he got down to 143 pounds. And while he did cardio to help with the weight loss, he said it was 90% what he was eating and portion size.
Hilary Swank had to put on 23 pounds of pure muscle for her role as a boxer in Million Dollar Baby. The process doesn’t sound easy, however. “I started working out five hours a day — I had to eat 210 grams of protein a day,” Swank said. She also mentioned that she had to consume 60 egg whites per day, and when that proved too difficult, she had to drink them. And to keep the muscle on, she would get up and drink protein shakes in the middle of the night.