Lights, action, hut, hut: When NFL players go Hollywood.(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

Byline: Ethan J. Skolnick

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ In ``The Playmaker,'' a feature film set to resume shooting shortly, Jason Taylor plays against type as Darrell Redman, a football player with a bad attitude and a foil to the lead character, T.K. Marsalis (Boris Kodjoe).

Marsalis, a Redman rival, disappears for years after a tragic night, returning as a changed man under a different name to a professional team. By then, Redman is a coach. "He thinks I will expose him," Taylor says. Here are some other football players turned actors, without even mentioning Joe Namath's memorable cameo in ``The Brady Bunch'':

Brian Bosworth: "The Boz" starred in ``Stone Cold'' as an undercover cop and biker before the overhyped linebacker's career was stopped cold, his shoulders blown out.

Merlin Olsen: NFL Hall of Fame defensive end and FTD-flowers guy and broadcasted started his celluloid career with ``The Undefeated.'' Later played Jonathan Garvey during the later years of ``Little House on the Prairie.''

Ed Marinaro: The running back has ``Amy Fisher: My Story'' and an acting turn as Joey Buttafuoco among his credits, but you might know him as Sonny St. Jacques from ``Laverne and Shirley'' or Joe Coffey from ``Hill Street Blues.''

Carl Weathers: The former Raiders starred as Rocky Balboa's nemesis and then inspiration, Apollo Creed, in the Rocky movies. Recently, he's played smaller roles in Adam Sandler flicks.