Greatest Athlete of ALL-TIME being done by ESPN

[flinstones1]

somewhat agree... incredible strength, flexibility, coordination.

there's two ways to rank this, either by athletic traits or by sports performance.  if ranking by athletic traits, the best athlete should score highly in all athletic attributes... like strength, size, flexibility, speed, dexterity, intelligence, endurance

if ranking purely by sports performance, obviously someone like michael jordan, wayne gretsky, tiger woods, michael schumacher, ray robinson, etc. would win.

personally, i would choose the first method, and would never rank any of those people "best ever".  but the athletic traits method is tough too, because not all of the traits develop independently.  you end up having to choose between, say, big, strong athletes and small, agile ones.

throw olympic weightlifters up there too, pound for pound the strongest  most explosive athletes on the planet. check out the end pyros i weighs 185 pounds and is front squatting 500 pounds like it's nothing ...with no knee wraps.   dude power cleans 400 pounds casually...to put the bar on the wrack to do front squats lol

[/youtube]

[hardgainerj]

anderson silva on that list is a joke

[tbombz]

somewhat agree... incredible strength, flexibility, coordination.

there's two ways to rank this, either by athletic traits or by sports performance.  if ranking by athletic traits, the best athlete should score highly in all athletic attributes... like strength, size, flexibility, speed, dexterity, intelligence, endurance

if ranking purely by sports performance, obviously someone like michael jordan, wayne gretsky, tiger woods, michael schumacher, ray robinson, etc. would win.

personally, i would choose the first method, and would never rank any of those people "best ever".  but the athletic traits method is tough too, because not all of the traits develop independently.  you end up having to choose between, say, big, strong athletes and small, agile ones.

[OTHstrong]

anderson silva on that list is a joke

How so? his physical body is a machine bro

[The Ugly]

Dale Earnhardt Sr. oh brother

I was thinking the same thing.

[disco_stu]

but cricket is a shit sport which no one plays... so much for don bradman.

more countries play cricket than NFL...

[Palpatine Q]

good to see others get it.

groink dnt waste your time most getbiggers never played organized sports in their life and will never fathom someone running straight up an outfield wall wearing metal spikes.

It's the old "longevity" argument. which is pointless.

if MJ, Carl lewis, Herschel Walker et all got injured after 5 seasons, nobody would know who they are right now, the fact that Bo is even in the argument says all you need to know

PS Michael jordan tried to take a page out of Bo's book and play baseball..he was an abysmal failure. Bo was an all star.

[funk51]

 

[The Showstoppa]

Very true...!!

Especially the F1 drivers....they have to be in top shape..they endure a whole bunch of gss

don't they have a max weight of 180lbs?  oh brother, twinkfest. 

[Jadeveon Clowney]

anderson silva on that list is a joke

sounds like someone likes the rear naked penis.

[closeline]

it s a USA-only sport, so how can footballplayers be the greatest athlete of all time?

maybe greatest athlete on national level in US

[Wiggs]

Bo Jackson. END OF THREAD and END OF SHOW.

[Ronnie Rep]

he hit the longest home run in Royals stadium history. he also hit a shot while trying to call time-out. he had ridiculous power.

Let's not forget throwing speedster Harold Reynolds out at home plate from the warning track, or running up the wall.

his average went up every year he played, along with his homer total...until he got hurt.

he hit .272 with 28 homers in 110 games in his last Healthy baseball season, and made the all star game. Where he hit a moon shot, stole a base and made a sick catch in the outfield...and was named MVP

Ran the fastest 40 time ever recorded at the NFL combine

averaged 5.4 yards a carry for his NFL career, which is Hall of fame caliber

The thing with Bo is he did Amazing things, that made you say "Holy Shit!" because they were pure athletic ability, hence the title "best athlete ever" .

And he didn't have the benefit of a full offseason from either sport, he went straight from baseball into football, which makes what he did even more remarkable.

 Bo jackson could have been a HOF baseball player, or a HOF football player.  he did both at a very high level and was only getting better when he got that injury.

and that's not wishful thinking, it's what happened.

Give me Herschel Walker's Ten Most amazing sports moments

Iam older thanyou Groink and have watched a hell of a lot of sports , I have never witnessed an athlete do the things that Bo has done! Bofor the win!

[hardgainerj]

Hershell Walker

all pushups and situps

[Rami]

Michael Phelps.

• The most decorated Olympian of all time
  
• All-time records for Olympic gold medals of 18, double the second highest record holder
  
• Record for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games
  
• Most successful athlete of the Games for the third Olympics in a row
  
• More records than any other swimmer
  
• has won a total of 71 medals in major international long-course competition, 57 gold, 11 silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics

[manuelsonn]

Michael Phelps.

• The most decorated Olympian of all time
  
• All-time records for Olympic gold medals of 18, double the second highest record holder
  
• Record for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games
  
• Most successful athlete of the Games for the third Olympics in a row
  
• More records than any other swimmer
  
• has won a total of 71 medals in major international long-course competition, 57 gold, 11 silver, and three bronze spanning the Olympics

lol, lets make sprints like 50m, 52metres, 58 metres backwards, 62 metres race in dwarf walk, 76 metres tumba... lol @ phelps

[Mitch]

Where is Mike Tyson?

Where is Michael Johnson?

I'm not sure whether or not Phelps deserves to be numero uno, but he's a goddamn swimming machine. 8 medals at once...

[Mr Nobody]

Falcon.

[Quickerblade]

Where is Mike Tyson?

Where is Michael Johnson?

I'm not sure whether or not Phelps deserves to be numero uno, but he's a goddamn swimming machine. 8 medals at once...

Mike tyson LOL he fought a bunch of bums and lost to anyone with talent. No way.

Ryan Lochte and Phelps yes.

[nzmusclemonster]

lol.

greatest athlete of all time.

The greatest athlete of all time has to be Sir Donald Bradman.

The cricketer with the batting average virtually double every batsman since to play the game.

In no sport has an athlete had such a massive margin over every other legend of a game.

thats the only way to compare it across the board.

Phil Taylor, 16 time Darts World Champion