Best Athlete of all Time?

[R. Rich]

just b/c he's a showboater doesn't mean he's not one of the most gifted athletes of all time.

 

IMO, he is the best.

 

Lance Armstrong was posed the question of whether or not he was good at other sports and, I'm paraphrasing here, he said he sucked at every other sport he's ever tried. While he's on my top 5 list, he's not one because he hasn't played mutiple professional sports.

 

1. Deion

2. Bo, close second b/c of injury

3. Jordan

4. Lance

5. Gretzky

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Wow gant. Is that list including athletes who performed before the 1980s? Just curious.

[RuntheDamnBall]

just b/c he's a showboater doesn't mean he's not one of the most gifted athletes of all time.

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I don't even think he's one of the top cornerbacks of all time.

 

He was an above-average, quick ballplayer, great KR, pretty good at getting interceptions. What else?

 

Jackson as a two-sport star was head and shoulders above Deion.

[nick in* england]

This thread appears to be about the greatest AMERICAN athlete if all time.....

[R. Rich]

This thread appears to be about the greatest AMERICAN athlete if all time.....

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Well...........I guess we could throw Daley Thompson into the argument...

[RuntheDamnBall]

Just to throw Deion's baseball career into relief:

From Baseball-reference.com

His batting stats are on par with such notables as Mike Kingery and Junior Felix. His SB totals make him a little better than those guys, but so what?

 

Our own Nate Clements posted better tackle and similar INT numbers in his first four seasons. He can run back kicks, too. So, we're saying that a guy who is a pretty good cornerback and KR, had one good year of WR stats and was an average baseball player is the greatest athlete of all time? Please. Just as his showboating doesn't detract from his status a great athlete, his being on the Braves doesn't make him one of the greatest of all time.

 

If football players were allowed to play during basketball season, and vice versa, I think you'd see a lot more impressive accomplishments than Deion's.

[jester43]

Where is Deion Sanders?

 

Here's a guy who logged 641 professsional MLB games and 172 pro football games. He's a shoe in for the hall of fame for football. Two SB rings, ranked second in SB's twice in MLB, was in the top 10 in triples three times.

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while deion probably does not belong on the list, i think he deserves more credit than he gets around here...people forget how dominant he was because they just dislike him. damn- remember when he just walked down beebe on that breakaway kickoff return in atlanta?? and as far as a-holes are concerned, he can't hold a candle to TO. he was cocky as hell, but i never thought he was a bad guy personally. ok, maybe he shouldn't have doused mcgarver , but still...

 

and i am touched that edwin moses was mentioned above. it is true that he won 122 400h races in a row over TEN YEARS which is just astonishing. guys who don't play stick-and-ball sports never get taken seriously in discussions like these, but if there was one who ever should, it should be edwin moses.

[gantrules]

And Bo Jackson is comparable, according to baseball reference, to such sluggers as Nick Esasky, Greg Vaughn and Phil Plantier. Just because he could hit the long ball for a few years doesn't make him great. It makes him a "what if". What if he didn't get hurt?

 

Deion was the premier corner of the 90's and as a bonus he was a dangerous threat on O and special teams. Think about it, he was dominate in one sport and played well at the professional level in another. Not only that but he has lasted 15 years. Hard for me to give the vote to Bo when he only played pro sports for half that time.

[gantrules]

Wow gant.  Is that list including athletes who performed before the 1980s?  Just curious.

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I'm only 28. I can't take things in to account that I never saw. It would be unfair for me to say that the Babe was a better athlete than say Honus Wagner b/c I just don't know.

[jester43]

This thread appears to be about the greatest AMERICAN athlete if all time.....

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DAMN NICK you're right! the clear winner is PAULA RADCLIFFE!

 

in an era during which the women's marahon world record hovered just over 2:20 for almost 20 years, it took her 2 to push it down to 2:17, and then 2:15! hell, britain doen't even have a dozen guys who can run that fast right now!

[envirojeff]

A little fella by the name of Jesse Owens? I see that he's been mentioned quite a bit in the other pages.

 

Jeff

[Mile High]

while deion probably does not belong on the list, i think he deserves more credit than he gets around here...people forget how dominant he was because they just dislike him. damn- remember when he just walked down beebe on that breakaway kickoff return in atlanta??  and as far as a-holes are concerned, he can't hold a candle to TO.  he was cocky as hell, but i never thought he was a bad guy personally.  ok, maybe he shouldn't have doused mcgarver , but still...

 

and i am touched that edwin moses was mentioned above.  it is true that he won 122 400h races in a row over TEN YEARS which is just astonishing.  guys who don't play stick-and-ball sports never get taken seriously in discussions like these, but if there was one who ever should, it should be edwin moses.

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Well I guess alot of people don't know him just don't understand his accomplishments. But, yes I would have to say Moses or Armstrong.

[jester43]

the other amazing thing about moses' streak was that while it was going on, he posted the NINE fastest times in the world for his event. ridiculous.

 

also, i thought of another one, sergey bubka the ukranian pole vaulter...first man over 20 feet all the way back in 1991, and to this day it has STILL never been done by anyone else. and it was not a bob beamon thing where he did it once and disappeared. he cleared 20ft., both indoors and out, at least a dozen times.

[Kelly the Dog]

While he cannot be considered as great as the others on the list because he was not fabulous in any one sport, this discussion should include, get ready to laugh, Danny Ainge. Ainge was a Parade High School All-American football player. While he was the winning the Wooden Award for being player of the year in college basketball, he was starting in the major leagues in baseball. He is a scratch golfer. he played 14 years in the NBA and won three championships. He was also a coach and now a GM. And, this is no joke, he is known to be unbeatable in ping pong.

 

On a side note, when he was coach of the Suns and they started off the year losing their first eleven games, his son (who was maybe 7 I don't recall) came up to him and said:

 

Son: "Knock-knock"

Ainge: "Who's there?"

Son: "Owen"

Ainge: "Owen who?"

Son: "Owen Eleven"

 

Even Ainge had to laugh.

[Mile High]

You know who else could be mentioned. Is Brett Farve. I know he wouldn't be number one but his streak is amazing. Oh and not to mention A running back out of OSU named Barry Sanders. I mean come on lets face it... He was the best. And his pure atheletic ability was amazing.

[R. Rich]

the other amazing thing about moses' streak was that while it was going on, he posted the NINE fastest times in the world for his event.  ridiculous.

 

also, i thought of another one, sergey bubka the ukranian pole vaulter...first man over 20 feet all the way back in 1991, and to this day it has STILL never been done by anyone else.  and it was not a bob beamon thing where he did it once and disappeared.  he cleared 20ft., both indoors and out, at least a dozen times.

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Good choice. Bubka was also pretty fast (ran in the 100 somewhere in the low to mid 10s, I think).

[nick in* england]

DAMN NICK you're right!  the clear winner is PAULA RADCLIFFE!

 

in an era during which the women's marahon world record hovered just over 2:20 for almost 20 years, it took her 2 to push it down to 2:17, and then 2:15!  hell, britain doen't even have a dozen guys who can run that fast right now!

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OK So Paula isn't the answer - but there are a ton of other nationalities that have produced world beating athletes - Kenyan distance runners for example - that deserve consideration for the 'best ever athlete' title...

 

I'd certainly include Daley Thompson as a front runner - ahead of any American Footballer, Baseball player and ot a lesser extent Ice Hockey Player.

 

The best evere athlete moniker should go to an athlete whose profile was so much larger than players who are/were American-centric. This way the impact of Jordan's athleticism cannot be overlooked, but a guy like Babe Ruth can.

[The Tomcat]

Bo knows......

[Alaska Darin]

Those of you who didn't name Jim Thorpe in your lists need to pick up a book on the man.

[VABills]

Those of you who didn't name Jim Thorpe in your lists need to pick up a book on the man.

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Damn I hate when we agree on things. Something must be wrong when that happens.

[gantrules]

Yeah, you're both old.