Ex-NFL WR Matthew Cherry wins Animated Short Oscar

Published: Feb 10, 2020 at 03:16 AM

Nick Toney

Editor, The Checkdown

Matthew Cherry now has more Oscar wins than NFL receptions.

The former journeyman WR completed a remarkable career shift by winning Best Animated Short Film for "Hair Love."

Cherry saw time on the Jaguars, Bengals, Panthers, and Ravens rosters in the mid-2000's. His second act as a director figures to make a much bigger impact.

"We have a firm belief that representation matters deeply" Congrats to Hair Love for taking home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. #Oscars https://t.co/SJXZXPGXLf
— ABC (@ABCNetwork) February 10, 2020

The story of Cherry's film is as big an underdog story as its ex-wideout director. "Hair Love" started out as a Cherry's Kickstarter project about an African-American father's relationship with his daughter and more minority representation in mainstream animation.

It raised over $284,000, starting Cherry down a path he impressively called way back in 2012.

I'm gonna be nominated for an Oscar one day. Already claiming it
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) June 2, 2012

Any 3D artists follow me? I got an Oscar worthy short film idea to go with this image. Get at me 😳 pic.twitter.com/aj5IAzisJn
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) May 11, 2016

Cherry is only the second professional athlete to ever win an Oscar. The late Kobe Bryant won one in 2018.

You can watch the entire animated short here.

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