ESPYs Host Rob Riggle: ‘I’m Intimidated by Athletes’

Don't expect Rob Riggle to be roasting any of the athletes Wednesday night when he hosts the 20th Annual ESPY Awards Wednesday night. During a conference call today I asked him if he was going to be poking fun at some of the athletes or if maybe he was intimidated. Here's what Rob said:

I'm intimidated by all athletes, they're kind of like heroes to me.

No, I'm not planning on going after anybody, but at the same time we're gonna have fun. We don't want to be a bunch of stiffs out there. I wanna be positive and have fun, it's a celebration.

It is indeed a celebration, and with this being the 20th year of the awards, it will have a more celebratory feel than ever. You can expect to see some guest appearances from former hosts like Justin Timberlake, Lance Armstrong and Samuel L. Jackson.

The long standing joke is that all entertainers want to be athletes and all athletes want to be entertainers. Rob said when he's around other actors it's no big deal, but he gets a bit shy when he's around sports stars. He said that also goes both ways, and that a lot of times when athletes and actors are in the same room they 'stand around and awkwardly stare at each other.'

Riggle grew up in Kansas City cheering for the Chiefs and Royals, and went to college at Kansas University and say he's 'still a Jayhawk through and through.'

Rob said he was an all league football player in high school, and played both basketball and football while serving in the Marines.

The ESPYs air live on ESPN from Nokia Theater in Los Angeles Wednesday night.