After a late night career that has spanned over three decades, David Letterman’s final show will air Wednesday night.
A wide variety of guests have appeared on The Late Show over the years, including movie stars, comedians, musicians and – of course – athletes.
In honour of his great career, we’re using Letterman’s patented Top 10 list format to look back at his most memorable sports moments.
10) The Albert Achievement Awards
Legendary play-by-play man Marv Albert appeared on Letterman’s program many times throughout the years – 126 times to be exact – and he always brought with him awesome bloopers that he would narrate called “The Albert Achievement Awards.” The clip below is Albert’s final highlight reel for Letterman.
9) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson re-tell their story
NBA greats Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were so important to the league and the growth of the sport worldwide that anytime they’re in the same building — let alone the same stage — to talk about their remarkable careers and rivalry, you better listen up. Letterman did. And his ability to let his guests star was one reason why he remained a fixture on late night.
8) Peyton Manning throws footballs through open taxi windows
Letterman is a notable Indianapolis Colts fan and had Peyton Manning on his program many times. But his best Manning moment came with the surefire Hall of Fame quarterback as a Denver Bronco, with the two trying to throw footballs through open windows of moving New York taxis. We’ll let the video tell you who was more successful in this endeavour.
7) Will Ferrell says goodbye to Dave as Harry Caray
We wrote about this earlier this month, so you can read the full details here. But for now, just check out the hilarious clip below.
6) Bill Belichick talks “DeflateGate”
Perhaps because this was on a late night talk show and not a hardcore sports show, but this clip of Letterman asking Bill Belichick questions about “DeflateGate” and seeing the New England Patriots coach looking uncomfortable is pretty shocking to witness.
5) The 2010 Super Bowl commercial
As mentioned before, Letterman is a big-time Colts fan and in his 2010 Super Bowl commercial – as short and kind of lame as it was – he gave a huge shoutout to a frequent guest from the past, Colts great Art Donovan, by wearing his No. 70 jersey.
4) Letterman goes to bat for the Yankees
Based in New York for the entirety of his late night career, Letterman did a lot of stuff with the Yankees. The clip below shows what happens when Joe Torre calls Letterman’s number to pinch-hit in the bottom of the ninth.
3) Dave’s mom reports from the Olympics
Dave’s mother, Dorothy, made many appearances on his show, but the most memorable are her Olympic reports. Unfortunately, we couldn’t embed a video for you guys since the Youtuber disabled that function, so here’s a link instead.
2) George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin appear together
The feuds between George Steinbrenner and Billy Martin are the stuff of legend, and to see the two sitting down laughing with each other on set is quite fascinating. Martin discussing a funny story involving Mickey Mantle and hunting is just the icing on top.
1) Jerry “The King” Lawler slaps Andy Kaufman
Slap. Lots of cussing. This clip is sports entertainment at its finest.