OT: GOAT of all GOATs

[Chin Diesel]

No, I am not. GOATs need great skill and great athleticism. I don't particularly think running fast takes a great deal of skill. You have to master getting out of the blocks but that's about it, and you might even get lucky timing the gun perfectly. The best sprinter of all time simply doesn't belong in the conversation of all time overall GOATs. Your game literally lasts 10 seconds. That doesn't compare to anything, especially something like multiple 5-hour tennis matches during numerous tournaments.

Golf - Tiger may be very athletic and exceptionally skilled but we know there were some good golfers who were not particularly athletic. I remember a commentary following the Craig Stadler incident, something to the effect, a game where a towel is considered an aid is not a sport, and a player who needs to kneel on a towel is not an athlete. A game where there isn't any running at all is not GOAT worthy.

I have no idea how anyone would not consider Ali and Ruth great athletes. That's just wrong on every level.

No they don't. Some get away with only one of those two, some have both but you really make yourself look foolish saying a GOAT needs to have great athleticism.

 

[Kolumbo]

No they don't. Some get away with only one of those two, some have both but you really make yourself look foolish saying a GOAT needs to have great athleticism.

This is crazy talk. We are talking sports. No one can come close to any kind of greatness without both, let alone GOAT level. If we are talking non-athletes, I'll go with a drummer, Neil Peart. Although one could argue that drumming itself at HOF level requires a great deal of skill and athleticism.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

I am confused. Are people really saying anybody that list lacks athleticism?

 

[Ratso]

Nadal is the greatest. He’s got no help, he’s alone on that court with one opponent who wants to kill him. golf , you sit and wait to see if somebody doesn’t drive it.

tennis is a solitary sport with your opponent attacking you. not having your caddie walking you to the next lane or whatever

 

[Marat]

Gretzkys individual scoring point total will never be broken. His streak of 200 pt seasons won't either. His 92 goal seasons - nobody has come close. His 40+ other records stand. There is a reason he is called the great one.

 

[Palatine]

Lawrence Taylor.

Brady is lucky he played after Taylor's career.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

When it is all said and done and if Fury can continue doing what he has done I do believe he will surpass Ali. Boxes and moves like a middleweight, and he talks the talk like the great Ali. He may get knocked down but the man always rises. Just watching him in the corner of the first Wilder fight yelling to himself "I am the Gypsy King" still pumps me up.

He is an interesting fighter,
To me his defeat of Klichco outboxing him and making him look bad in the process was more impressive. The last guy he beat had a huge punch and minimal boxing skills. Although getting off the floor in their first fight was as impressive as Ali getting up from the Frazier left hook in his comeback.
The thing about Jack Nicholas is he not only won more majors than anyone but he had more second place finishes in majors than anyone 19 - 7 of those in the Open. which isn’t surprising since he played against some of the greatest links players of all time so winning Opens wasn’t easy.
Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino , and Seve all loved that type course. Watson might be the GOAT at that format. 5 wins almost won a 6th at 60.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Funny, Bill Russell not on list-11 titles as a player 1 as a coach...best rebounder and defender ever. Still averaged 15 a game and almost 5 assists a game-5 MVP's.
ELEVEN TITLES...I SAID ELEVEN.

 

[mauconnfan]

There were metal woods, square grooves for wedges and plenty of technology changes between Jack and Tiger. I think Tiger's bigger contribution was fitness and swing speed.

All this goes back to my point about Bolt being the best. Carl Lewis may have won more medals because he competed in more events but Bolt is objectively a faster runner in a sport where the skill is speed.

6800 yards compared to 7800 yard courses. 175 yard par 3s to 235.

All relative and Tigers percentage of wins considering he only played in the best tourneys with the best players in the and the fact the Europeans came, were real good...... it’s Tiger for me. There’s no one shooting 77 on Sunday and winning a major like Lon Hinkle during Tigers days.

 

[Conndog]

Not to mention that Brady is the undisputed greatest player in all of NFL history.

Undisputed? Could not disagree more. I guess your measuring stick is # of championships but in my opinion that isn't enough to declare someone as the greatest of all time, especially in a team sport.

 

[8893]

Lawrence Taylor.

Brady is lucky he played after Taylor's career.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Lawrence Taylor.

Brady is lucky he played after Taylor's career.

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

 

[Lefty2one]

This is a subjective discussion but I think the one thing that must be done is to separate team athletes from individual sport athletes. I don't see how someone can compare Usain Bolt to Michael Jordan. There are way too many variables that go into team sport success.

 

[alphasigko]

Jack Nicklaus

 

[alphasigko]

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

Jack Lambert and Jack Ham

 

[Deepster]

Jack Lambert and Jack Ham

I had a good friend that went to college in Pittsburgh. At a frat formal they were in a hotel bar and Jack Lambert showed up drunk. He put his arm around my buddy's shoulder and said "20 years ago, I would have taken you out back, beat the out of you then ffed your girlfriend" and he laughed and bought a couple rounds and moved on.

My friend said he was never more scared for his life than in that moment.

 

[Dogdeacon]

The semantics debate about an athlete or athleticism is really weird. It takes incredible eye hand coordination for most ball sports. Athleticism isn’t simply jumping & running, it’s moving in a coordinated manner to produce results.

Regarding Ruth, throwing a baseball hard (90+) is something even the strongest greatest athletes can’t do and hitting a baseball is acknowledged as one of if not the hardest thing to do in sports. It’s only fair to measure guys vs their era and the babe dominated his like no other.

 

[storrsroars]

I'm bumping this to acknowledge that Brady is now the first NFL player to win in four different countries (USA, Mexico, England, and now Germany).

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Bill Russell

If you ask Bill Russell there was no one even close to Wilt Chamberlain who also was one of his the greatest pure athletes of all time.

Russell’s remarks about him are legend . He would laugh that great laugh and say “ I could hold him to 40 and 25 on my good nights , I must of been pretty good.”
Another great athlete was Josh Gibson who played many years in the Negro League as a catcher. Batting .441 one year. Hitting legendary HRS.
Sachal Page remarked about him “an athlete with that ability is created once a millennium “

 

[Improviser]

The semantics debate about an athlete or athleticism is really weird. It takes incredible eye hand coordination for most ball sports. Athleticism isn’t simply jumping & running, it’s moving in a coordinated manner to produce results.

Regarding Ruth, throwing a baseball hard (90+) is something even the strongest greatest athletes can’t do and hitting a baseball is acknowledged as one of if not the hardest thing to do in sports. It’s only fair to measure guys vs their era and the babe dominated his like no other.

Measuring guys by their era is totally fair because it takes into consideration the talent level of their competition and the training regimen then available for the other players in that sport.

Today, with modern technology like practice videos for players to view, and with studies on exercise physiology and exercise modalities and modern equipment to develop strength and co-ordination, measuring by era makes complete sense.

I suppose people won't give up on video simulations of Ruth vs. Judge. In boxing, somebody came up with one pitting Rocky Marciano vs. Ali.

 

[superjohn]

I'm bumping this to acknowledge that Brady is now the first NFL player to win in four different countries (USA, Mexico, England, and now Germany).

Also the first to ever play in four different countries.

 

[HitDog]

Another point in Brady's favor, he is 2nd all time in receiving yards for players over 40 years old.

 

[BGesus4]

GOAT is Joe Namath.

If you have any other opinion you werent there, and if you pull stats, you dont know.

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

 

[HuskyHawk]

Another point in Brady's favor, he is 2nd all time in receiving yards for players over 40 years old.

If he hadn't slipped on Sunday, he might be first

I thought it was appropriate the the fans in Munich sang Sweet Caroline during Brady's post game interview on the field. Wrong sport, and he's not in Boston anymore, but it felt right.

I voted Gretzky, but there can never be just one.

 

[uconngb]

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

all time classic

 

[Tex-Lager93]

Greatest athlete - my vote goes to Bo Jackson. The abilities shown in football, baseball and track (as a decathlete) are just absurd. He may not hold any records because of the hip injury - but possibly the most well rounded athlete ever.

 

[Palatine]

The only correct answer.

MJ? . Jordan is 5th in points, 3rd in steals. He would need to have almost 25% more points to equal Gretzky's lead over #2.

Assists are even more absurd. He has more assists than any other player has goals PLUS assists.

Wilt has better numbers and Russel won more.

Neither had the hype train (based on off court merchandising) of Jordan. MJ is the goat of cashing in.

 

[AZHuskiePop]

All today's QB's are lucky they didn't play in the 70's and 80's. Look at those hits Bradshaw took while playing on artificial turf.

Not just LT. Think about Deacon Jones, Butkus, Ray Nitschke (sp?), Ted Hendricks, etc. They'd go right after your head, spin you around and absolutely try and drive you in to the ground.

Wide receivers got hit hard on or off the ball. They didn’t talk as much either.
Guys careers were cut short due to the brutality , when size and athleticism exploded some might say with enhancements applying rules made for smaller and slower guys had to be changed.
The mid to late 70’s into the 80’s was its height.
If you ever saw guys like Jack Tatum layout a wideout you would understand.

 

[Palatine]

A big part of Brady's goat status belongs to Gisele. She allowed Brady to play for less salary than his elite status demanded. This allowed the Patriots to play with a salary cap larger than the rest of the league. So they were able to add a Randy Moss or elite defender while the rest of the league could not. It gave them an advantage over the rest of the NFL.

Patriot fans know this even if they don't acknowledge it.

And yes, LT would sent Brady into space.

 

[August_West]

“There” meaning the Suzie Kolber interview? Asking for a friend

It was a bit cringey and inappropriate on national TV, but in NYC bars in late 60's early 70's it was a feature not a bug.