Some guys are star quarterbacks, blessed with a rocket for an arm.
Some are ace pitchers, with pinpoint control.
And some guys are Jon Dorenbos.
You might not know Dorenbos, but he could be the best long snapper on the planet. And he's the example of one way to make it big in professional sports in an unconventional way.
The UTEP grad has been performing the long snapping duties for the Philadelphia Eagles since 2006, after playing with Buffalo and Tennessee.
His story is a wild one, which includes some dishonesty his coaches at UTEP probably don't mind now.
He was a long snapper in high school, and was playing fullback and linebacker at powerhouse Golden West Junior College in Huntington Beach, Calif., when he got a call from a friend at UTEP.
With the school in need of a long snapper, Dorenbos edited together some high school film, along with some of the Golden West long snapper (who was not Dorenbos), and he ended up with the job at UTEP.
Fast forward to 2012, and Dorenbos is a professional football player making $800,000 a year, and he doesn't need that Peyton Manning laser-rocket arm.
If you can throw a football backwards between your legs and don't mind falsifying video records, you too can play in the NFL.
But if football's not your sport? No worries.
George Parros apparently couldn't find any good work as a Princeton-educated economist. So he strapped on some skates and started beating the crap out of people.
The mustachioed enforcer, who gained a cult following with the Anaheim Ducks, signed with the Florida Panthers this offseason for two years at $1.85 million.
If you can skate, and don't mind kicking some ass, you too can play in the NHL.
There's glory and riches to be had playing baseball, too.
You've certainly heard the story of R.A. Dickey, whose bewitching knuckle ball has put him in the Cy Young race and the hearts of baseball fans everywhere.
Prior to 2010, Dickey never had an ERA under 4.50. Once he mastered the knuckler? He was sporting scoreless-innings streaks and pitching in the All-Star Game.
If you can perfect a weird grip and your name sounds like that of a early 20th Century railroad tycoon, you too can play in the MLB.
It might help to be 6-foot-4, or run a 4.4 40, or be able to bench 600 pounds.
Just know that there's still hope for those of us built like Khalid El-Amin.
