David Beckham becomes first athlete to be named People's 'Sexiest Man Alive'
Great Britain and Ireland's English captain David Beckham looks on during a charity football match between a Great Britain and Ireland team and a Rest of the World team at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on Nov. 14, 2015 in aid of UNICEF. Credit: Getty Images / Paul Ellis
People magazine has anointed 30 "Sexiest Man Alive" winners, including repeat honorees, and 27 primarily are known as actors, one as a musician (Adam Levine) and one as, well, John F. Kennedy Jr.
Strangely, it took until 2015 for the publication to get around to naming someone who is known primarily for his work in sports, a category long associated with sexiness.
Sure, David Beckham's prime jock years are long past at age 40, and yes, he comes from the world of soccer rather than the more traditionally mainstream North American sports. Come to think of it, he's not even American.
But it's about time you got around to sports, People!
The most accomplished previous jock on the list was Mark Harmon (1986), who is mostly known as an actor but was a pretty good quarterback at UCLA in the early 1970s. And his father, Tom, won the 1940 Heisman Trophy at Michigan.
Esquire has been naming its "Sexiest Woman Alive" since 2004. Every winner other than Rihanna (2011) has been known primarily as an actress.
Minka Kelly (2010) did play a cheerleader on "Friday Night Lights" and used to date Derek Jeter, but that probably doesn't count.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
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