My definition of a raw athlete is someone genetically gifted with great: strength, flexibility, agility, drive, determination, longevity and natural abilities in many different team sports.
I saw it "live" on TV. Happened because there was no bend in his knee when he came down from a height during an end run with tackler(s) hanging onto him. Just shattered his hip.Was going to post this. A real shame his career ended so quickly, he could have set some records.
Bo and Deion's hand timed 40s have a lot of human error involved.
Carl Lewis ran 100m in 9.84, Bo's college 100m is 10.39, Deion ran a 10.21. Those are timed with a lot more accuracy than NFL combine.
Regardless, I think that Bo is a better athlete than Deion Sanders, but don't think that has to do with pure speed comparisons.
I added Secretariat into this conversation, half as a joke (Secretariat is not top 10 material)
ESPN happened to include Secretariat in its listing of 100 greatest athletes. It's an argument with some merit
Certainly not so.
If you watch my link above where Bo beat Jim Brown in Sport Science, Bo's 100m time would have beaten Carl Lewis in the Olympics that year. No way Carl Lewis would survive in the NFL nor could he hit 30 HRs in major league baseball. Bo was an All Star in 2 major sports. Nobody except MJ (when factoring in "clutch" but MJ's baseball ability sucked) is even close to Bo in the modern era.
Lebron was an all state wide receiver before shutting it down his senior year. He could easily transition to the NFL as a tight end if he wanted to and be one of the best if not the best. Several power forwards in college turned to football when it was clear they wouldn't be making the nba.also, has Lebron succeeded in any other sport, to the degree that all of these other athletes have? not that i know of.
someone mentioned Shaq...lol you've got to be kidding me. The guy is gifted with size, which is about it. He shoots like shit and is universally known to be quite terrible at one of the most important aspects of his chosen game--foul shots. He's great at his position, obviously, but there are outright glaring weaknesses that he shouldn't be anywhere near these other athletes. Yeah, Kobe mentioned that he always hated how Shaq never worked like everyone else, practiced like Kobe, or had any type of discipline--this definitely speaks to a raw ability, but his utility is basically tied to his massive size. nothing more.
To consider him anywhere close as dominant and talented as players like Chamberlain, Russell, or even Hakeem, is laughable. And as far as I recall, the first two were successful outside of basketball. The only sport I could imagine Shaq being competitive at outside of basketball, is hotdog-eating.
Darrell Green or Magnus Ver Magnusson.
Babe Ruth is vastly underrated as an athlete. He barely trained and took terrible care of himself yet, after eight decades and huge advancements in science, is still the greatest baseball player ever by a wide margin. Good speed, lightning reflexes, amazing hand-eye coordination and massive natural strength.
His lifetime slugging percentage of .690 is 56 points ahead of "the greatest hitter who ever lived", Ted Williams. His record of 457 total bases in 1921 has not been seriously challenged since the 1930s. Since Williams retired in 1960, only one player (Barry Bonds) has ended his career with a slugging percentage within 100 points of Ruth. And he didn't just get it with all the homers...his lifetime batting average of .340 is two points ahead of Tony Gwynn.
Ruth was not possessed of warp speed, but he was known as a dangerous baserunner.
Willie Mays, who was long called by many the best overall player in baseball history, had an adjusted OPS+ of 156 for his career and 182 in his best season. Barry Bonds, the new Willie Mays, hit 182 for his career even with the best roids money could buy for his last several years. Ruth once collapsed from eating too many hot dogs, yet hit 206 for his entire career.
Would have made the HoF as a pitcher if he hadn't been more valuable with a bat. 2.28 ERA and a .671 winning percentage. This dual dominance in pitching and batting is unequaled in MLB history.
Ruth is best known for home runs, and for good reason- he all but invented them. When he set the record at 29 homers in 1919, the runners-up (one known as Home Run Baker) were tied at 10. When he boosted it to 54 homers the next year, HoFer George Sisler was hot on his heels with...19. After he set the bar at 60 in 1927, it stood for 34 years and was not bested again for another 37 years (and then only by roid users). His career record of 714 stood for four decades and still ranks 3rd all time. Led the AL in homers 12 times. And Ruth didn't just drop them over the wall- he was known to hit many gigantic, towering blasts.
And on and on and on. Ironically, I believe Ruth's status as a cultural icon has made people forget what made him an icon in the first place. His larger-than-life personality and behavior would not be remembered if he hadn't been the greatest raw athlete in history.
I will NEVER EVER understand the adulation that Ruth gets. He was fat as shit. Noone with excessive body fat is in the running for greatest athlete ever. Fact is, modern pitching would have eaten Ruth alive. He wouldn't even make the Hall of Fame if he'd played today with his body and skills.And on and on and on. Ironically, I believe Ruth's status as a cultural icon has made people forget what made him an icon in the first place. His larger-than-life personality and behavior would not be remembered if he hadn't been the greatest raw athlete in history.
QFTRuth was in a different era. If Mays played at Ruths time, Mays stats would have been better and if Ruth played in Mays era, Ruths stats would have been worse.
It's not apples/apples.
I am of the opinion that of all the great boxes, in their primes, Mike Tyson would have dominated them all. He was, for a short time, the greatest boxer ever to have lived. Sadly, he won't be remember for his ability in the ring.You know while we are on the topic I keep wondering if Ali would not get annihilated into dust if he tried to fight one of the Klitschkos.
And zin, the reason football players are generally considered above others is because they have a unique combination of requiring speed, agility, and strength. Few other sports have that (rugby, lacrosse, etc do, but those aren't filled with well known athletes). Even in sports like soccer where there is someone so dominant (Pele, for example scored 1200 career goals), he wasn't really that strong.
One must have a lot of mental toughness to train for and compete in 10 different events. Roman has proved over and over, that he is "perfect" for worlds greatest athlete. Roman has many other titles and records as well in Athletics. At this time i will list roman sebrle best time or distance at each one of the 10 Decathlon disciplines: 100m: 10.6 long jump: 26' 7" shot put: 53' high jump:7' 400m:47.7 110HH: 13:6 discus: 168' pole vault: 17' javelin: 233' 6" 1500m:4:21
I will NEVER EVER understand the adulation that Ruth gets. He was fat as shit. Noone with excessive body fat is in the running for greatest athlete ever. Fact is, modern pitching would have eaten Ruth alive. He wouldn't even make the Hall of Fame if he'd played today with his body and skills.
QFT
Ruth was in a different era. If Mays played at Ruths time, Mays stats would have been better and if Ruth played in Mays era, Ruths stats would have been worse.
It's not apples/apples.
I am of the opinion that of all the great boxes, in their primes, Mike Tyson would have dominated them all. He was, for a short time, the greatest boxer ever to have lived. Sadly, he won't be remember for his ability in the ring.
I will NEVER EVER understand the adulation that Ruth gets. He was fat as shit. Noone with excessive body fat is in the running for greatest athlete ever. Fact is, modern pitching would have eaten Ruth alive. He wouldn't even make the Hall of Fame if he'd played today with his body and skills.
QFT