Been a little reluctant to start this thread. The main reason is that I do not follow soccer, hockey, and some of the less popular sports.
However, I am interested in what others think and who may be added that I am unaware of.
Athletes most often concentrate on only one sport. A few have been able to succeed in two sports. Some have played other sports on the side or played earlier in life.
The order is not as important in this case because that maybe hard to quantify.
My top ten.
Bo Jackson - Just amazing what that could do. He very well could have been in the HOF of two sports.
Jim Brown - Just one of those humans that could do anything.
Jim Thorpe - A legend. We were unable to see much but when you read about his life just amazing.
Muhammad Ali - The greatest sports figure of my life. His life goes way beyond sports. As an athlete he was magnificent.
Michael Jordan - Obvious.
LeBron - I can only imagine him in football.
Mickey Mantle - the Commerce Comet. Mickey was loaded with natural talent. Played basketball and football.
Deon Sanders - I lived in Atlanta when he was drafted by the Falcons and then played for the Braves. What can you say?
Pele - I don't know a ton except he was a legend
Serena Williams - Just amazing to watch. I am not a tennis fan.
Gretzky. Jordan. Tiger. Nicklaus. Federer. Ken Griffey, Jr. Michael Phelps. Walter Payton Bolt Gus the Field Goal Kicking Mule (nailed one from 100 yards in a big game)
Gretzky. Jordan. Tiger. Nicklaus. Federer. Ken Griffey, Jr. Michael Phelps. Walter Payton Bolt Gus the Field Goal Kicking Mule (nailed one from 100 yards in a big game)
Former Cleveland Brown WR, Dave Logan, was drafted by MLB's Cincinnati Reds, the NBA's Kansas City Kings, and the Cleveland Browns.
Herschel Walker was a star in the NFL, MMA, and Olympic two-man bobsled.
Dave Debusschere was a star in the NBA and pitched in the Majors for the Chicago White Sox.
Dave Winfield was an MLB star and also helped lead Minnesota to a Big 10 basketball title. Ditto, former Indians' CF Kenny Lofton, who played point guard for Arizona, reaching the final 4 in the NCAA tournament.
How about Nadia Comaneci - at age 14, had 7 perfect 10.0 scores in Olympics gymnastics in 1976. Maybe not one of the top 10 greatest athletes, but pretty amazing.Updated link
Top ten is difficult. Jackie was a great college football player.
Plus you have track and field guys like Olympic decathlon guys.
I don't see golfers like Tiger or Nicklaus. Golf is such a specialty sport. I don't see them really competing at a high level in other sports.
I could be wrong because I don't know much about them. But when you stack them up against guys like Bo Jackson, Jim Brown, LeBron, Jordon, Ali. I mean come on.
I think Tom Brady has to make the list. That is unless we mean athlete in the sense of being the biggest and fastest, which Tom Brady would never qualify for on his best day. But still, at age 41, he just won his sixth Super Bowl ring while playing at an elite level throughout the season in arguably the most difficult position in sports.
Most games won by a quarterback: 237 Most Super Bowl appearances: 9 Most Super Bowl wins: 6 Most Super Bowl MVP awards: 4 Most passing yards in a single Super Bowl: 505 Most Super Bowl passing touchdowns: 18 Most Super Bowl passing yards: 2838 Most playoff game starts: 40 Most playoff game wins: 30 Most playoff passing touchdowns: 73 Most playoff passing yards: 11179 Most career passing yards, regular season and playoffs: 81,683 Most career passing touchdowns, regular season and playoffs: 590 Most playoff game winning drives: 13 Most Pro Bowl selections: 14 (tied) Most NFL conference championship appearances by a starting quarterback: 13 Most NFL conference championship wins by a starting quarterback: 9 Oldest quarterback to win a Super Bowl: 41 Oldest player to win a regular season MVP: 40 Oldest player to win a Super Bowl MVP: 39 Oldest QB to lead the league in passing yards: 40 Most touchdown passes thrown to different receivers: 71 Best touchdown to interception ratio in a single season: 28:2[2] Most division titles won by a player: 16 Best record as starting quarterback in a single season: 16-0 Longest touchdown pass: 99 yards (tied)
I know you have Pele listed, however, I think some of the soccer greats beyond just Pele need to be included. It is an incredible sport. No resting, very few substitutes, no time outs, massive pitch that makes players run anywhere between 7-10 miles PER GAME and when it is flowing it truly is a beautiful game. Some of France's goals last year were phenomenal to watch. However, for me, when Spain finally got it rolling in 2010 they were beautiful to watch and they made it look so effortless & easy. Almost like ballet.
just a few names that immediately came to mind, without doing much pondering:
Jesse Owens Jim Brown Michael Jordan
don't know why those three came to my mind immediately
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
"Jesus, we do this every year. How bored are you?"
Sorry bone, i didn't use an emoji cuz I thought you'd get the irony of my first post, where I seemingly complained about the thread - BUT - made up my own list.
Obviously there is no disputing his accomplishments in football.
But top ten greatest athletes? I don't think so.
When you look at the obvious guys like Bo Jackson, Ali, Jordon, Jim Brown, Thorpe, LeBron, Deon.
Brady does not have that kind of athletic ability. For one he can not run fast, jump high, etc.
He has a quick mind and great arm. He is an incredible quarterback. But there is no way he could compete with these other guys in pure athleticism.
There are tons of guys who play basketball, football, baseball, soccer, boxing that would be ahead of Brady.
A lot depends on what your definition of an athlete is. I think there's a lot more to being an athlete than just pure physical, athletic ability-- especially a position like QB which depends so much on decision making and accuracy.
Then again, not all of your list is not based on who can run the fastest or jump the highest so it's not entirely clear what the criteria are. It does seem a bit odd that this is a football board, and everybody has left off the best QB of all time-- best football player of all time, if we are even somewhat taking into account positional value.
I can read any list, from any era, watch film, read accomplishments, etc, etc...
Eye test always confirms what I already know. Bo Jackson has my vote for greatest pro athlete ever. It's not just watching him do things that no other human has the ability to do... it's watching the ease at which he does them. No-brainer in my book.
Actually I posted this on Everything Else and it was moved.
This not the greatest football players.
It is guys who have or most likely could have competed in more than one sport at a high level.
Athletes are people who are gifted athletically and could compete at just about any type of athletic sport.
To me that requires hand eye coordination, strength, speed, pure athletic ability.
There are plenty of guys who can dominate at a single thing. Pitchers. Golfers. Pool players. Track stars etc.
Some maybe good all around athletes. But top ten athletes?
Just think Bo Jackson and Dion. Really hard to do what they did. Could they swim fast?
LeBron and probably a bunch of NBA guys because in basketball it is hard not be athletic.
Jim Brown was a great Lacrosse player. I know he was good at basketball and golf. I remember when he was offered a large sum of money to train to fight Ali.
My top guy was Bo Jackson. I have never seen a guy that could do what he did. I don't if he could swim well or play golf but I would not bet against him in anything else.
I've played a lot of sports and coached multiple sports. I think the lists are lacking basketball players. In my experience, they are the best athletes that walk the planet.
I've played a lot of sports and coached multiple sports. I think the lists are lacking basketball players. In my experience, they are the best athletes that walk the planet.
I was going to say that earlier. Giannis might be the best athlete I've ever seen.
IMO greatest atheletes ever means its multiple sports not just one .... if your going to include one sport stars how is Gretzky not on anyone’s list, well at least the ones i read ... he dominated his sport like no other ...
Top 10 lists are very subjective ... IMO with it meaning multiple sports the top 3 are Jim Brown ... star lacrosse player as well as football ... Bo Jackson ...
and Wilt .... NBA and Volleyball HOF and he also won the big 8 long jump title as a freshman ... he dominated in 5 or 6 events in track and field in HS ... they changed the rules in the NCAA and the NBA because of him .. and thats ruleS not rule ... ....
By my definition I’m not sure how those 3 aren’t in everyones top 10 ... very subjective as to your definition but by mine those 3 are no brainers ...
Jim Thorpe another candidate if we're talking multiple sports
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
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