How the late Chuck Norris was once compared to Javier Mascherano

Martin Macdonald

• 21 Mar 2026 08:15 CDT
• 2 min read

News

Action movie legend Chuck Norris passed away this week at the age of 86.

A veteran of both television and film, he served in the United States Air Force before becoming an accomplished martial artist, with black belts in karate, taekwondo, Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and judo.

He would subsequently become a martial arts instructor for actors in Hollywood before becoming a leading man himself.

Norris is known for movies such as The Way of the Dragon, alongside Bruce Lee, Breaker! Breaker!, Silent Rage, Missing in Action, Delta Force, Forced Vengeance and later in his career, the Expendables franchise.

From 1993 to 2001 he starred in the hit TV series, Walker, Texas Ranger.

Due to his persona as a tough guy, Norris became one of the very first memeable celebrities as fans would create fantasy scenarios about him.

A few examples:

"Chuck Norris can pass a vision test with his eyes closed."

"When the Hulk gets really angry, he turns into Chuck Norris."

"The flu has to get a Chuck Norris shot once a year."

"Chuck Norris doesn't turn on the shower, he stares at it until it starts to cry."

"Chuck Norris doesn’t read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants."

"The dinosaurs looked at Chuck Norris the wrong way once. You know what happened to them."

Where does Mascherano come in?

Bizarrely, the internet phenomenon bled into the football world on one occasion, as Argentina star Javier Mascherano was once given the Chuck Norris treatment.

It happened after he played on with a patched up bleeding head in a match during the 2014 World Cup. Twitter users came up with the #maschefacts and the comments started rolling in.

Here's a selection:

"Voldemort is afraid of Mascherano's name."

"When Mascherano was in Liverpool he travelled back in time and taught the Beatles how to sing."

"Mascherano opens an Oreo cookie and the cream stays on one side.

"Mascherano takes the train in rush hour and always gets a seat."

"Chuck Norris beats everyone. Except Mascherano."

You get the picture.

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