Greatest Athlete of All Time...

[RedZone]

5 hours ago, Norcalnut said:

You do know the topic is greatest athlete of all time.

Correct.

It's not a topic about what athletes played the most sports .

Maybe you should start that thread..

[RedZone]

17 minutes ago, RedZone said:

Correct.

It's not a topic about what athletes played the most sports .

Maybe you should start that thread..

Mondo probably could have been a world-class sprinter if he would have spent 15 minutes a day working on it...... people brag about a 10.5 on this forum.

Mondo in high school. He looked like a WR flying down the track 👇

 

[On2whls]

Gotta include Michael Phelps.  Sure he was dedicated only to swimming but amongst the greatest swimmers of all time he stands out as freakish.

[Fred]

8 hours ago, HurricaneNick said:

Caitlin Clark!!! 

I read an analysis comparing her to Larry Bird in college.  There was no 3 point shot/line when Bird played but if you look at where he was shooting from, he would have blown her away with points scored.  I'm not trying to discount her accomplishments at all, far from it.  I just think it points out hard hard it is to normalize things to account for rule changes, etc.

[Fred]

59 minutes ago, On2whls said:

Gotta include Michael Phelps.  Sure he was dedicated only to swimming but amongst the greatest swimmers of all time he stands out as freakish.

And Katie Ledecki (sp?) has a chance to surpass him.

[golfaddict1]

One sport legends: 

Track:  

*Usain Bolt, Jesse Owens, Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis and Edwin Moses come to mind right away.  

*world’s fastest human all time vs the best pole vaulter.  😆  #hilarious  #participantlmfao

 

 

[golfaddict1]

9 hours ago, On2whls said:

Gotta include Michael Phelps.  Sure he was dedicated only to swimming but amongst the greatest swimmers of all time he stands out as freakish.

Mark Spitz had the mustache resistance freakishness.   

[golfaddict1]

13 hours ago, Wooderson said:

Similarly credentialed to Winfield was Danny Ainge. Dude played in the majors with the Jays while playing hoop at BYU (second youngest guy in team history to homer after Vlad Jr) and transitioned to a successful NBA career. Per BYU he's the only three-sport high school All-American as he was a very good receiver in football.

Best looking on that Celtics squad too.  😆 

[golfaddict1]

19 hours ago, golfaddict1 said:

*Dave Winfield - Modern choice  

Jim Thorpe - Old timer choice 

*much respect to Dave Logan  @maxchoboian

Athlete :  Meet Dave Winfield 

… very nice to see a younger dude sharing it.  

Like Wilt, Winfield was offered a NFL gig without playing college ball.  
Wilt was personally offered by Hank Stram to play for the KC Chiefs, while Winfield was chosen in the draft.  #Athlete
 

 

[golfaddict1]

1 hour ago, golfaddict1 said:

Mark Spitz had the mustache resistance freakishness.   

Speaking of 70’s stache’s.  Can you name this guy?   😂 

A better hint (shouldn’t be necessary though for the older members) I’ll share on the random side.  
 

[golfaddict1]

Bo Jackson was brought up and rightly so… dang hip injury on a big gainer along the sideline.   
 

Track brethren, Gil Brandt. 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/TnDlFKTNkeE?si=UUrPSAaRjMGVjZ40

Hello Boz!  

[I AM IRONMAN]

42 minutes ago, golfaddict1 said:

Best looking on that Celtics squad too.  😆 

Not too difficult to achieve vs. that motley looking crew!

[golfaddict1]

18 minutes ago, I AM IRONMAN said:

Not too difficult to achieve vs. that motley looking crew!

I couldn’t track down a comedy skit I heard many years back, so a quote from Charles Barkley it is. 

The comedy skit dug deeper, with the guy mentioning a black teammate with freckles too (Dennis Johnson).   😂 
 

 

[pied]

This is always a great question and discussion.

 

Gave my $0.02 about Jackie Robinson.

 

I first look at typical athletic standards, speed, strength, quickness, stamina and explosion (jumping), and versatility.   I then take into account skills, throwing, catching, accuracy, as well as strategy.  

 

For me single sport/event athletes would have a harder time being as high on my list.  I also think you can be an all time great in the sport, but not necessarily qualify as a world class athlete.  For the people at the top of my list, I'd consider how they would translate across sports.  

 

Sport wise:

Football - very specialized, and really lacks on the endurance compared to other sports while having a big emphasis on explosion, quickness, and strength for some positions.  For the best athlete, I'd be looking at DB/WR/RB/LB with a couple of outstanding ones.  On the downside, players only play ~1/2 the game (which totals ~13 minutes of actual game play) in bursts of ~7ish seconds/play with a break in between.  

Soccer - high on endurance, skill, but almost totally lacking on throwing/catching.  Explosion, quickness and speed are high.  I'm a huge soccer guy, but there would only be a few guys that I'd include, like Ronaldo.  

Baseball - skill level as high as any sport, but overall athleticism needed is typically well below other sports.  There have been some great athletes for sure, but the sport does not require it to be great.

Basketball - it is the team sport that sticks out for me.  It is much less specialized than many other team sports and incorporates more of the athletic attributes I look for.  There is less skill than baseball and soccer, but probably a little more than football.

Hockey - Speed and skill is very high, shifts are pretty short, on average ~45 seconds.  Positions are not nearly as specialized as football/baseball and toughness is off the charts, but that wouldn't be one of my top criteria.

Track and Field - meets many of the requirements, but lacking versatility and skills outside a few events.

Swimming - see T&F, up the skill and lower the versatility.

Wrestling  - I'd be talking out of my @$$ even more, but highs on strength explosion, and endurance, but not nearly enough for me.

Volleyball - explosion and quickness out the wazzoo, but overall too specialized.

 

 

Bo Jackson and Deion have great resumes for me.  At the top of one sport (and position requiring great athletes) and good at another that requires tremendous skill.

Jackie Robinson was tops in four sports collegiately and may have been able to duplicate what those guys did in a different time.

Wilt check so many boxes as well, especially considering he's also in the Volleyball HOF.  

Jim Brown is another great shout, think he could have competed in the modern era as well.

Michael Phelps - certainly belongs in the discussion, but too limited for me

Jim Thorpe - I just can't comment and I'm an old.

 

 

Have to choose one, give me my sentimental choice of Jackie Robinson but certainly open for debate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[golfaddict1]

Solid take @pied ☝️

Indeed, Deion right there with Bo.  It is not an easy athletic move to hit in the Major leagues.   Ask Michael Jordan.  

Like Bo, Deion had blazing speed and was matching up with Jerry Rice as a Cowboys CB and dazzled fans with PR and INT TD returns throughout his career.  

He never needed full throttle for long and was high stepping usually 20+ yards from paydirt.   On the Baseball diamond, he was electric.  

Jim Brown - fantastic Lax player at Syracuse.   


Some dual sport names and I’m sure I’m missing a ton… just off the top of my “bald” head.  

@Wooderson mentioned Danny Ainge 

Charlie Ward - Heisman winner and Knicks point guard 

James Lofton was a NCAA guard and MLB player.  Ditto Tony Gwynn.  

Elway - baseball and football

(Bullet) Bob Hayes - Olympic gold and very talented Cowboys WR 

Willie Gault - Track world class and Bears WR 

“Lam” Jones - Track USA and Jets WR 

Skeets Nehemiah - Niners WR briefly and track champion 

Devon Allen - Football at Oregon and track pro 

Kyle Snyder -  World champion wrestling, 9th grade starter on OLGC DL  

Almost forgot Jeff Demps and I’m supposedly a FL homer.  😂  Track Olympics and Gators/NFL football 

Shot put gold medal and NFL.  Forgot name and had to Google.  Michael Carter 

One more Olympics and NFL burner,  Ron Brown.  

🍺 time.  

Please add others fellas. I know I missed a bunch 

[RedZone]

Sprints are the easiest of the events in track and field. Nothing really too much to them.

The Pole Vault is considered the hardest and most challenging event. 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts.

 

[pied]

4 minutes ago, RedZone said:

Sprints are the easiest of the events in track and field. Nothing really too much to them.

The Pole Vault is considered the hardest and most challenging event. 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts.

 

 

 

For me you're describing more of a skill than raw athletic ability, which to me is certainly part of the equation.  

To me, athletic ability is translatable across different sports (speed/strength/explosiveness/etc.) where as skill very may well not be.  

 

If I were picking track athletes for my football, basketball, LAX, baseball, soccer team, I'm likely picking a sprinter before a pole vaulter.  

If I'm trying to break into a 2nd story apartment, I'm taking the pole vaulter.

[RedZone]

16 minutes ago, pied said:

 

 

For me you're describing more of a skill than raw athletic ability, which to me is certainly part of the equation.  

To me, athletic ability is translatable across different sports (speed/strength/explosiveness/etc.) where as skill very may well not be.  

 

If I were picking track athletes for my football, basketball, LAX, baseball, soccer team, I'm likely picking a sprinter before a pole vaulter.  

If I'm trying to break into a 2nd story apartment, I'm taking the pole vaulter.

Even you could run a sprint, but you're not pole vaulting high enough to even change a ceiling light bulb. 

[RedZone]

Pole vaulters are sometimes the best athletes on a track team because it requires full-body strength and speed. It also takes probably the most technique out of any track event as well as other sports. It also takes a good bit of courage to run a pole full speed into the box and then flip upside down (inverted).

[Norcalnut]

39 minutes ago, RedZone said:

Sprints are the easiest of the events in track and field. Nothing really too much to them.

The Pole Vault is considered the hardest and most challenging event. 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts.

 

You keep bringing this up but he isn’t even the most dominant pole vaulter all time. Sergey Bubka is.

1. Broke world record 35 times.

2. Held world record for over 20 years.

3. Progressed the world record over a foot in his career.

Duplantis needs another 12-13 years of dominance and add another 10 inches to the WR to come close to Bubka. 
 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts!

But you will.

[RedZone]

10 minutes ago, Norcalnut said:

You keep bringing this up but he isn’t even the most dominant pole vaulter all time. Sergey Bubka is.

1. Broke world record 35 times.

2. Held world record for over 20 years.

3. Progressed the world record over a foot in his career.

Duplantis needs another 12-13 years of dominance and add another 10 inches to the WR to come close to Bubka. 
 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts!

But you will.

That post is so absurd I don't even have to do anything.

Desperation at its finest.

[Ararar]

I think we have short changed the decathlon athlete 

[pied]

19 minutes ago, RedZone said:

Even you could run a sprint, but you're not pole vaulting high enough to even change a ceiling light bulb. 

 

There's a lot of athletic skills that I couldn't do easily or at all, but not sure I should be the reference.  

Free climbing takes maybe the most courage I can think of, as well as strength and patience.  I'd fall off a 7 foot wall lol.

 

 

 

Here's an interesting/unbiased look.  These are the tests the NFL uses to determine athletic ability across all positions.  Not the end all be all, but an objective look at athleticism that billion dollar organizations use.

 

 

• 40-yard dash.
• Bench press of 225 pounds.
• Vertical jump.
• Broad jump.
• 20-yard shuttle.
• Three-cone drill.
• 60-yard shuttle.

 

Here are the events the NBA measures.

 

• Standing Vertical leap
• Max vertical leap
• shuttle run
• lane agility
• 3/4 sprint

 

[pied]

4 minutes ago, Ararar said:

I think we have short changed the decathlon athlete 

 

 

I'd agree with this.  

 

 

[Norcalnut]

19 minutes ago, Norcalnut said:

You keep bringing this up but he isn’t even the most dominant pole vaulter all time. Sergey Bubka is.

1. Broke world record 35 times.

2. Held world record for over 20 years.

3. Progressed the world record over a foot in his career.

Duplantis needs another 12-13 years of dominance and add another 10 inches to the WR to come close to Bubka. 
 

Do not deny the evidence, proof and facts!

But you will.

 

8 minutes ago, RedZone said:

That post is so absurd I don't even have to do anything.

Desperation at its finest.

I think what you are trying to say is “I have no legitimate retort to your facts so I will say something stupid and hope no one will notice”