When it comes to sports players and avid gamers the music they usually listen to tends to lean towards R&B or hip hop; however, there are some professional competitors who love nothing more than tuning in to some heavy metal bangers either during training or some well-deserved downtime.
Here are some of the famous offline and online personalities who are metal heads to their core.
Caption: These sports and gaming pros are all happy to dive into the mosh pit
Poker Pros and Metal Musicians Are Peas from the Same Pod
There is a long-standing connection between the game of poker and the metal genre’s biggest stars, with everyone from Scott Ian of Anthrax fame to Lemmy of Motorhead being well known for loving a game of poker.
In modern day poker it is common to see players at live events hunkered down beneath a hoody and some high-end headphones, although it is sometimes a bit of a mystery as to what is being listened to.
In many cases this is not metal music, but hidden away in both online tournaments and offline competitions there are some of the best players in the world blaring Finnish metal at full volume, as they go about dominating the field. Some of those same poker pros even play a bit of guitar themselves!
Soccer Players and Managers Are Big Head Bangers
Slaven Bilić is a top-level soccer manager, having led Premier League outfit West Ham as well as the Croatian national team.
Although you will not find Bilić discussing his devotion to the likes of Megadeth in television interviews he is not afraid to use a good blast of ‘Wake Up Dead’ as a pre-match or half-time motivator.
Sergio Ramos is one of the most decorated centre backs in the modern game, but when he is not chopping down the world’s best strikers and getting away with it, he is listening to Motorhead or Guns N’ Roses. He even went to see the Roses play live in Sevilla.
Pro Video Gamers and Twitch Streamers Release Their Inner Metal Head
With metal typically drawing a slightly older crowd than other music genres, it is perhaps no surprise that spiraling guitar riffs and guttural screams do not dominate the Twitch and Mixer airwaves, with many top streaming stars too engaged in battle to discover new tunes.
However, that is not to say that every now and again they don’t uncork a can of metal-style rage, unleashing a shout or scream if a game is not going their way or sometimes just as a means of releasing tension in the gaming arena.
NASCAR Drivers Adore Loud Engines and Louder Frontmen
When you are the sole black driver in NASCAR you probably know a thing or two about being an outsider, and so it perhaps comes as no surprise that racing star Bubba Wallace is comfortable with being a metal fan.
Wallace has even credited heavy metal music with helping him through some tough times in his life. He also gets extra credence points for making fun of fellow driver Ryan Blaney when it transpired that Blaney was a fan of Nickelback. Bubba had no option but to step in and let Blaney know that his ears deserved better.
The NFL Even Had Its Very Own Metal Band
While it is one thing to be a fan of music, it is quite another to form a band and start making songs with your buddies. This becomes even more impressive when four 300+ pound NFL players decide to start jamming together.
That was what happened back in 2011 when Leonard Davis, Cory Procter, Marc Colombo and Justin Chapman decided to form Free Reign, a heavy metal group that you would not want to watch from the front row if they decided to start stage diving.
The good thing is that they played their guitars almost as well as they handled a football.