Greatest Athlete of all time?

After Bo, he Deion was the first name that popped into my head. Gilbert Brown was next.

 

I can't believe I forgot Jackie Robinson, I always mention him behind Thorpe when I was this debate with friends and family.

I should be a shamed to call myself a sports fan.

 

Babe Ruth. Has any other athlete so overwhelmed and surpassed his competition? Don't forget he was a stud pitcher before he became the greatest offensive player in baseball history. BTW he had 136 career triples, 4 less than the speedy Willie Mays.

Sectretariat.

 

Based on his Superstars performance, I am going to go with Kyle Rote Jr.

Funny, however, that it's mostly speedy guys mentioned.

I would think a basketball player would be more of a well-rounded athlete in general than a running back or sprinter.

 

Jim Thorpe and Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

 

Ilmago loves these impossible to intelligently answer "greatest ever" debates.

Guys like Thorpe and Grange would be good choices if we were having this discussion in 1925, but I don't know how you can even begin to compare them to modern athletes. The distances and times that Thorpe wowed the world with in the 1912 Olympics wouldn't even win high school titles today.

And to be considered the "best athlete ever", I'd think at some point you would've had to have been the very best in at least one sport. Bo never was. Neither was Deion or Jackie.

IMO, the best athletes I've seen were probably Michael Jordan, Barry Sanders and Carl Lewis in their primes. If you're that awesomely athletic in one sport, I see no need for a second sport to be average in.

 

True, the topic will cause many over-the-top assessments and hyperbole. But it's that wide-open.

I answered as I did based on the subjects being incredible multiple-sport athletes, though those who are dominant in one sport shouldn't automatically be dismissed.

So ESPN picked over Michael Jordan as No. 1 for the 20th century. I disagree ... no better than No. 3 behind at least Jim Thorpe and Muhammad Ali. Someone may disagree with that. Such is life.

 

Someone's trying to get a job with ESPN.

 

well, Bo was All-Star level in two sports; Deion Sanders was all-pro for a few years in football and briefly an average-level MLB player.


1. Jim Brown
2. Michael Jordan
3. Jackie Robinson (MLB HOF and certainly an NFL-level football player and more than likely an NBA-caliber hoopster - he led the conference in scoring 2 years at UCLA).
4. Gordie Howe (arguably NHL GOAT and from many reports an MLB-level outfielder when he used to take BP with the Tigers in the offseason).
5. Wilt Chamberlain (ran the 440 and threw discus competitively; cleared 6-8 in the HJ when the world record was 6-11).

 

My off the wall selection would be Wayne Gretzky. Was a talented baseball player ( in one of his many books I read he was scouted as a shortstop) and a stud in lacrosse.

Other than that Jim Brown, played football and lacrosse at superstar levels, and was on the basketball team at Syracuse as well.

And this far with no Tebow comments, wow.

 

Would Allen Iverson even enter this coversation?

 

1). In lacrosse, how does Jim Brown compare to the Gaits, the Powells, etc.?
2). I'd like to throw Edwin Moses into the debate. He totally dominated the 400 meter hurdles for about a decade.