Homes of professional athletes in 2012

While castles, missile silos and zombie fortresses ruled the REALTOR.com realm in 2012, there were plenty of prime real estate happenings coming out of the professional sports world. From Jerry Rice to John Smoltz, here are your favorite athlete homes from the past year.

5. San Francisco 49ers Great Jerry Rice’s Atherton Mansion

Starting things off in our walk down Sportsman Lane was the luxe estate of arguably the greatest football player that ever was, Jerry Rice. Known for his training runs up “The Hill,” the San Francisco 49ers legend has been looking to pitch his mansion in the hills of Atherton, CA for some time now, and took another step towards coaxing a buyer by dropping the asking price for the 13,908-square-foot home to $10.5 million.

4. NASCAR’s Kyle Petty Cashes Out of Isle of Palms

Revving things up in South Carolina this year was former stock car driver Kyle Petty. The son and grandson of racing icons, Richard Petty and Lee Petty, respectively, the NASCAR RaceDay co-host looked to peel out of his Isle of Palms beach home and would later pocket $1.2 million for the 4,100-square-foot oceanfront residence.

3. Spring Training Roundup: Homes of Major League Baseball Players

We love us some Spring Training here at REALTOR.com and apparently you do, too. Coming in third on our top sports posts of 2012 was an entire lineup of major league baseball player homes to kick off the start of Grapefruit and Cactus League action. From Matt Cain to Barry Larkin, we circled the wagon on the All-Star properties of ballplayers, past and present.

2. Lamar Odom’s Rents Rich in Dallas

Lamar Odom’s L.A. exit and arrival in Dallas was big news during the 2011 offseason. However, in the real estate world, it was Odom and wife Khloe Kardashian’s rental of a posh condo in Big-D that really stole the show. Owned by the son of Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks, Khlomar were reportedly shelling out $7,500-a-month for the stylish high-rise pad at the W Dallas Victory Hotel & Residence.

1. Braves Legend John Smoltz Lists Sportsman’s Dream Mansion

With separate tennis and basketball courts, baseball and football fields, a fully stocked and oxygenated fishing pond, a jogging trail AND a 18-hole golf course all found on the premises, it’s easy to see why former Atlanta Braves hurler John Smoltz had the No.1 athlete home of the year. The Cy Young Award-winner and perennial All-Star made headlines in January when he put the 18,265-square-foot mansion on the market for a cool $7.2 million.