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Greatest Athlete of All-Time?

Greatest Athlete of All-Time

  • Total voters
    174
sailordeac said:
Thorpe most likely. Only Bo Jackson might be competition.
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This. Voted for Thorpe. But was awed by Bo back in the day. If you haven't seen the 30 for 30 documentary ESPN did on Bo, you gotta watch it. Learned some new stories about Bo from it, and parts were just hilarious. Loved the story of him throwing out Harold Reynolds at home from the track without the ball bouncing.
 
Neurodeac said:
Do the younger folk even know who Jim Thorpe is?
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Of course, but a golfer can't be on this list!!

JimThorpe2005.jpg
 
went with Thorpe myself. like the quote Eisenhower had about him.

"Here and there, there are some people who are supremely endowed. My memory goes back to Jim Thorpe. He never practiced in his life, and he could do anything better than any other football player I ever saw."
 
I voted Thorpe, though I probably would have voted Brown if he were on the list (I missed the "other" category). Jackson would be a close third.
 
I was pretty close to voting Thorpe, but I tend to discount the accomplishments of athletes who were not competing against the best of the best before sports were integrated. Fair or not, it's how I feel.
 
Bo.

I think MJ being bad at baseball was overplayed. He definitely wasn't good, but considering the age he was when he tried to go back and the fact that he hadn't played in a decade makes it more impressive. You also can't just look at his BA etc. because he WAS awful at the beginning of the season, but worked his tail off to become servicable. Obviously nothing like Bo, Deion etc., but not as bad as a lot of people like to say.
 
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I agree MJs baseball stats were not bad considering the circumstances. Also remember he was play AA, which is good talent level. Still don't think he is greatest athlete
 
BabyDeac75 said:
And Winfield is the only athlete drafted by four different pro leagues (MLB, NBA, ABA, and NFL).

All things considered, I would have to go with Jim Brown. His credentials are staggering. He was one of the greatest NFL running backs of all time, an All-American lacrosse player who was one of the finest ever, averaged 38 points per game in high school basketball and lettered in hoops at Syracuse, finished fifth in the 1956 national decathlon championship, was offered a minor-league deal by the Yankees, and could have been a pro boxer after he retired.
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Not bad.
 
In terms of athletes that I've been able to consciously watch compete in my lifetime (so dating back to the early/mid-90s), I think a strong case could be made for Jon Jones. In terms of pure athleticism, he likely deserves a mention in the conversation.

I posed a similar question (more centered to 'current' rather than 'historical') a while back to a group... One of my friends made a very compelling case for Ashton Eaton, who I was admittedly pretty unfamiliar with.
 
DeacsOrDie said:
I agree MJs baseball stats were not bad considering the circumstances. Also remember he was play AA, which is good talent level. Still don't think he is greatest athlete
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Jim Thorpe hit better in the major leagues than Mj did in the minors and was a pro Football Hall of Famer.
 
Anybody who remembers Randy Smith would have him on their top ten list. Tremendous soccer and track and field athlete as well as having a very good NBA career.
 
Jim Brown followed closely by Brian Cook.
 
Deacfreak07 said:
I was pretty close to voting Thorpe, but I tend to discount the accomplishments of athletes who were not competing against the best of the best before sports were integrated. Fair or not, it's how I feel.
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He won the decathlon and pentathlon against an integrated Olympics. Then as a shamed minority was the best pro football player of his era and a major leaguer.

Bo may have the most talent, but the reality is due to his injuries he never played more than eleven games in an NFL season and only made one AS game as baseball player. As a major leaguer, he only has a .300+ OBP once in seasons where he played at least 100 games.

Bo looked and played like Supreman at times. He was a marketing genius.

Had Bo stayed healthy who knows what would have happened. However he didn't.
 
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