Due to the majority of media coverage they get and the way they behave, most professional athletes are characterized as sex crazed partiers with several children from several different partners. And in some cases, maybe even most cases, that's true. However, it's important to remember that not everyone is on board with that lifestyle. Even if it is basically all that we see.

But it's not entirely their fault.

Anyone who has ever been to a club when members of a sports team are present knows that everyone wants to hang out with them, and maybe even go a little further. It's just the culture, it's bragging rights. It's a story to tell at parties. The culture is empowered by the way our society operates.

Sure, Dwight Howard seems to have a new baby mama every week, Adrian Peterson hid the existence of several children and Ray Lewis has a higher number of children than the average first grader can count to. But there are a lot of professional athletes that avoid late night direct messaging with their Twitter followers and closing down Tao. There are players like Tom Brady who reportedly goes to bed each night at 8:30pm.

The Olympic Village is a notoriously a serious hook up zone. In 2000, 70,000 condoms didn't cut it and organizers had to order 20,000 more for the world's best athletes.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is a small handful of athletes who say no to everything from drinking to partying. Even sex. Some professional athletes staying adult virgins well into their early 20s and beyond.

Here are nine athletes who waited, or are waiting for marriage.

9 9. Philip Rivers

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is outspoken about his faith. The devoted Catholic has even worked with the Chastity Project in the past, an organization that has some very “interesting” views on everything from safe sex to HIV/AIDS. Some of their work even includes criticizing sexual disease action workers.

Rivers believes that chastity is a judge of character and shows a person's discipline.

Rivers has now married the woman that he has been interested in since the seventh grade, Tiffany. He says they took the chastity pledge together and that she converted for him. Like any good Catholic couple, Rivers and Tiffany now have seven children.

8 8. Bethany Hamilton

Bethany Hamilton is a pro-surfer who survived a shark attack in which her left arm was bitten off. It was big news for a very long time. They made a movie about it and it often airs at 3:00am on Saturday nights.

Hamilton believes sex is too casual and that God created sex for a purpose, and that purpose is to unite a man and a woman in marriage.

Hamilton is waiting for the right person, in fact, she has never kissed anyone and only had one boyfriend. Hamilton says "(I) definitely believe God has someone special for me. I just want to honor Him and patiently wait for that special someone.

Hamilton says she can't wait to find that special person.

7 7. A.C. Green

The deeply religious AC Green took the vow of chastity and waited until he married in 2002. This means that he remained a virgin through the Los Angeles Lakers "Showtime" era. Yet, Green's pledge is less about religion and more about self control. He says "abstinence doesn’t really have anything to do with a person’s religious background. It’s about self-control . . . identifying your core values as a person.”

Whatever Green did worked for him. Over 16 seasons, Green played 1,192 consecutive games and won NBA championships.

Green was extremely dedicated to the cause. He remained a virgin until he was 38-years-old. He says that it was definitely worth the wait and he walks around with a smile on his face. He calls his wife Veronique, an accountant, his friend.

Green says it was harder to wait for an NBA Championship than for sex.

6 6. Kaka

The Brazilian soccer player Ricardo Kaká Leite, known as Kaka, has said that both he and his wife, Caroline, were virgins when they married.

“The Bible teaches that true love waits until marriage,” Kaka told the Italian edition of Vanity Fair. “If our life today is so beautiful, I think it is because we waited," he said about his marriage.

Kaka was scouted from an early age. However, he completely avoided groupie culture and married his childhood sweetheart. Kaka says that he loves his wife and that it was well worth the wait.

5 5. Collin Klein

Collin Klein is a member of the Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes.

He played college football at Kansas State. During his time there, Klein led K-State to 21 victories in two seasons as a full-time starter and became a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Klein married his wife Shalin while still at student at Kansas State. Both Collin and his Shalin are devout Christians. The couple didn’t date formally until they were engaged. They didn’t kiss until they were at the altar. Colin made the vow not to kiss anyone before his wedding day when he was 14.

Klein says that "God did something really amazing in the fact that we didn’t really date and it was the kind of thing where He put it on my heart independently and her heart independently and we knew it was right."

Klein says that God spoke to him and told him that Shalin was the special girl and that he was going to marry her. Klein says that he just started praying but didn’t tell anybody because the pair hadn't yet spoken to each other.

4 4. Michael Redd

NBA player Michael Redd was celibate for three-and-a-half years before he tied the knot in August 2006. Women would knock on his door in the middle of the night and follow him home from games, but Redd never gave him.

Redd says his teammates thought he was crazy. They asked him if he was gay or scared of sex. Eventually, they got behind his decision and supported him.

Mo Williams says of Redd, "We used to joke with Mike about it. But we never doubted him because of how he carries himself. He's so sincere you can't help but respect him 100 percent."

3 3. Prince Amukamara

Prince Amukamara was coined "the black Tim Tebow" because of his open virginity pledge.

Amukamara recently married. As a result, Antrel Rolle and Amukamara's New York Giants teammates believe Amukamara’s surging swag and emerging performance on the field is directly related to finally losing his v-card. They told the media that they think it definitely had something to do with it.

The cornerback's wife Pilar Davis is “flattered” their sex life is getting credit for her husband's on-field performance.

2 2. Lolo Jones 

Lolo Jones is 32-years-old and an open virgin. What separates her from the other virgins is that her reasons for opting out of sex don't seem to be as religiously based as the others.

After announcing she was a virgin, Jones later tweeted about the reaction to that news: "I've seen celebs get teased less for releasing sex tapes. #ironic." However, since Jones tends to say not nice things about people on Twitter and on TMZ, she's really not in a position to talk.

Jones says that staying a virgin is harder than training for the Olympics.

The U.S. hurdler says she's been tempted and she's even had guys tell her that having sex with them will make her a faster runner. Hopefully, she wasn't temped by those guys.

As far as her dating life goes. Jones says, "I do not have a hard time finding dates but I do have a hard time finding a guy that I want to date that has good morals, that's willing to wait." Jones says that it's getting more difficult though.

1 1. Tim Tebow 

Tim Tebow is the sporting worlds most famous open virgin. Virgin Atlantic Airways offered him free flights for as long as he remains free of sexual activity. The coolest thing about T-bow is that he isn't all weird about being a virgin. He still goes to parties and hangs out. He seems like a very nice, fun person with a non-removable smile on his face.

Other NFL players, like Rob Gronkowski have made jokes about Tebow's purity ring status, saying he wanted to take Tebow's virginity. Still Tebow stays cool.

Philadelphia Eagles guard Evan Mathis received attention after joking about Tim Tebow's virginity in a tweet. Mathis posted to his Twitter account the image of a sign that said, "Don't die a virgin terrorists are up there waiting for you." He tweeted the image along with a personal message to the Christian quarterback, which said, "@Tim Tebow, thinking about you big guy.

Tebow dated actress Camilla Belle, and although, Belle is a Catholic herself, she doesn't discuss her sex life. However, Taylor Swift has indicated that the actress is definitely not in the purity ring group. Swift trashed the actress in her song "Better Than Revenge," which is believed to be about how Belle stole Joe Jonas away from her. In the song, Swift sings:

"She's not a saint and she's not what you think/ She's an actress, whoa/ She's better known for the things that she does on the mattress."