This week, I’ve chosen highlight Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens as the Sports Stud. As an NFL player, he’s super beefy and very sexy, and also shows a lot of support to the gay community. The sexy 35 year old NFL linebacker has been showing such huge support for for gay marriage and has participated in some sexy NOH8 photo shoots that shout loud and clear that he supports the gays. As you already know, the more professional athletes that speak up about this and show their support, the better. Many look up to these people as role models, so it’s great to Ayanbadejo standing up for such an important cause.

Originally from Chicago, Ayanbadajo has played for several pro football teams. In 1999 he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL as an undrafted free agent. He served on the practice squad of the Falcons and the Chicago Bears before being picked up by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL in 2000, and spent time with them and the Toronto Argonauts. He played the 2001 season with the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe, and played for the BC Lions of the CFL in 2002. In 2003, he returned to the NFL as part of the Miami Dolphins. In 2005 he started playing for the Chicago Bears, and finally in 2008 joined the Baltimore Ravens.

My favorite thing I learned about the father of two children (and a CUTE french bulldog) is that recently, in response to a fan on Twitter, Ayanbadejo stated that his biggest accomplishments were “marriage equality support and playing in a Superbowl.” Check out his photos below, as well as his video in support of gay marriage.

Pics & video after the jump…

Even though the NFL Playoffs are taking place right now, I wanted to highlight a non-football-rugby-soccer athlete to keep the mixture of sports coverage interesting. Due to the rugged and muscular nature of those guys, they tend to be a little too predictable.

This week, I’ve chosen to highlight NBC basketball player, Blake Griffin. I’m surprised that I haven’t highlighted the power forward in a Sports Stud feature to date, considering he was featured in ESPN’s recent issue of “Body’s We Want“. The 22-year-old plays for the Los Angeles Clippers and is originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He offically made his NBA debut in 2011, was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. Way to start off with a bang! To add to that, Sports Illustrated also ranked him as one of the NBA’s 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.

Now, I leave you with some sexy shirtless pictures that certainly don’t disappoint. You’ll see why he was selected for ESPN’s issue, the cover of the current issue of Men’s Health magazine, and how he brings the heat when he hits the beach.

Check out more photos after the jump…

After having just announced the winner of the 2011 Sports Stud Showdown, I’m ready to commence 2012 with the first featured athlete for this year. The first Sports Stud for 2012 is the sexy 26 year old soccer player (and model), Lance Parker. He is an American soccer player, but is currently playing for FC Edmonton in the North American Soccer League. As evident by the picture above, Parker (who stands 6′ 4″), plays goalkeeper for his team. Here’s the unfortunate part: In February of last year, Parker he had signed to play with Edmonton, but he only played four games for the club before breaking his arm while playing against the Carolina RailHawks in June 10. That being said, he is under contract with FC Edmonton for the 2012 season.

Aside from his career on the field, Parker is incredible model material and he seems to be using the gifts God gave him (and that I’m sure he works hard at maintaining). He recently did a photo shoot with Fantasticsmag with talented photographer Scott Teitler and the photos are hot, hot, hot. He has that “All American” look and has the perfect physique. Enjoy the photos below!

More pictures after the jump…

After another year of weekly Sports Stud features concluding with a month long battle for the top spot honor, a winner has clearly been decided. Our other two hottie showdowns have already been decided, with Jonathan D. Lovitz winning the Man Crush Showdown, and River Viiperi winning the Model Behavior Showdown. Although this is the first Sports Stud Showdown I’ve done, in the Winter of 2010, I did have the Olympic Hottie of the Day Showdown, with sexy Canadian Curling Champion, John Morris coming out on top.

The Top 3 guys are made up of two rugby players and one gymnast. Two of them were each finalists in their respective rounds, while one of them was a wild card, so it’s definitely interesting to see how it all wrapped up. Without further delay, let’s see which of the Sports Stud finalists made the podium.

Find out who the winner is after the jump…

After three rounds of voting, we’re now down to the final round of the 2011 Sports Stud Showdown. You went through every single athlete that I wrote about this year and voted on your favorites. I have to say that the ones in this final list definitely do seem to have a loyal following. It will certainly be interesting to see who comes out on top. They are all worthy in my humble opinion. The athlete finalists include a handful of rugby players, a decathlete, a baseball player, a champion fighter, and a soccer player.

So how did these ten finalists earned their spots? Here’s how: The top two vote-getters from each of the three rounds automatically advanced to the finals. The remaining four wild card slots were given to the four highest vote-getters from all the rounds.

Each week I picked who I wanted to feature as the Sports Stud for the week, but you’ll be deciding who comes out on top! Pick your favorite Sports Stud for 2011 below. Vote for your favorites (and vote often) if you want them to win.

Check out the candidates and vote after the jump…

Ho, ho, ho! We’re into Round 3 of the Sports Stud 2011 Showdown, where you’ll now be voting on the candidates that will joining the finalists from the previous two rounds and where next week, we’ll determine who the overall Sports Stud of the year is. There are sixteen new candidates to choose from below. I originally wrote their Sports Stud features between September and December of this year.

So who are these guys up against? The top two guys from Round 1 were sexy rugby players, Kayne Lawton and Daniel Conn. From Round 2 , it came down to decathlete Björn Barrefors in first place and rugby player, Dom Waldouck in second.

As I mentioned, there are sixteen guys below. Pick your favorites and next week all of your favorites will be pinned against each other (hold that thought for a second) and one winner will be decided by your votes. Enjoy!

Check out the candidates & vote after the jump…

Last night, Round 1 of voting wrapped up for the Sports Stud 2011 Showdown, and as I mentioned in that previous post, the two top studs will move on to the final round after three rounds. The top hottie for Round 1 turned out to be sexy rugby player, Kayne Lawton. He actually made up a whopping 45% of the votes. Looks like Lawton’s got some loyal fans! Following his lead, in second place with 31% of the votes was the sexy Daniel Conn. Like Lawton, he is also a rugby player and the two of them don’t shy away from sexy photo shoots. I’m certain that definitely helps them in situations like this.

We now move into the second round of voting with a whole new batch of eye candy candidates – 16 more to be exact. These men were featured roughly between May and August of this past year, making my summer just a little bit hotter. I think you guys may have a bit more difficulty with these ones as there are many hot ones to choose from. Best of luck and enjoy!

Check out the candidates & vote after the jump…

With such a positive response to our Man Crush nand Model Behavior Showdowns (courtesy of Donovan), I figured it’s only right that I put together a 2011 Showdown for for all of the athletes that I’ve highlighted in my weekly Sports Studs. This round will be the first of three where you’ll vote to find 2011′s Sexiest Sports Stud. After each of the three rounds, the two athletes with the most votes will move on to the finals. The final six will battle it out for the title of 2011′s Sexiest Sports Stud. Sound good?

This first batch of muscled men contains athletes from all different types of sports, including Rugby, Water Polo, Baseball, Soccer, and Diving to name a few. These men were between January and April of 2011 and make up the first round of the competition. Which of these guys would you want on the top of your podium? Check out the candidates and vote below!

Check out the candidates from Round 1 & vote after the jump…