Greatest Athletes of all-time

Deion Sanders not too far behind.

 

Why did Bo retire after 1994? He had a damned good year for the Angels in a part-time role. He could have DH'd, I assume, for years to come.

On a personal note, he was the guest of honor at one of the most bizarre press conferences I've ever attended. About 11 or 12 years ago, at the height of PED hysteria, some nincompoop academic or something was spouting off about steroids, and told some publication that it was "well known" that steroids had contributed to Bo's hip injury.

He called a press conference the next day and fired on her, and was adament that he had never touched the stuff.

 

Jim Brown. Not just football either, he played basketball, ran track, and was an All-American lacrosse player at Syracuse.

Jim Thorpe.

Bo Jackson has to be in any such conversation.

 

And at least one U.S. paper printed that as fact -- and then had to issue a front-page apology to Jackson and retract the story.

Now, where's that Tour de France thing?

 

Not in the running for greatest athlete of all time, but Kirk Gibson might have been a better football player than he was a baseball player. He had the same power-and-speed combo as an All-America wide receiver for MSU (on a team that would have gone to the Rose Bowl if they hadn't been on probation that year) that he did as a 20-20 guy and one HR shy of being a 30-30 guy in the major leagues.

 

He never played a down of football at Minnesota but he was a star in basketball there.

 

Dennis Miller reported on Weekend Update that after making the AL All-Star team and the Pro Bowl, Bo Jackson was in training to run in the Kentucky Derby.

 

After that, he was getting ready for an appearance on "Iron Chef"
Yes, this pie package is a real thing.

 

Well, Gibson, like Wilt and Dave Winfield, is rated high on these lists based on what a lot of people think they MIGHT HAVE DONE if they had played more than one professional sport.

(Going back into history, this kind of applies to Jim Thorpe too, who most observers believe could have become an MLB star if he had played baseball full time.)

But the only problem is -- they didn't.

 

Don't forget Bo knows archery. That's a sport. Sport'ish?

 

Remember, it ain't over until the hip socket sings.

 

To be fair to Wilt, he did show what he could do in other sports. He played volleyball when he was in retirement age and was a great track athlete in college. He didn't have a lot of professional options in those sports in the 60s.

Considering he was a champion high jumper in college, 400 and cross country runner in high school and out shot putted Al Oerter in practice, I think it is safe to say he could have been a hell of a decathlete if that was how he dedicated himself.