O.T. for Lull Period. Greatest U.S. athlete in World history

[Bully13]

Regarding world history significance

Muhammad Ali is my 1st choice. Thank you Dad for allowing me to be the only white kid in the Delta to be a fan of the Greatest of all time .

Babe 17ing Ruth

[Bully13]

Tiger woods and Michael Jordan get 2nd tier reps

[jdwhite]

Jim Thorpe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe

[msbulldog]

Bo Jackson

[BrunswickDawg]

Jim Thorpe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe

Dang - beat me to it.

I'll add Carl Lewis to the list too.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lewis

[Lord McBuckethead]

Jim Thorpe. Only correct answer.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Since it's 2018 and we let men in the women's bathroom, maybe it should be Bruce Jenner.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

Jesse Owens.

Won 4 golds in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in front of Hitler. Must have taken amazing courage to accomplish such a feat.

[msu15]

Brock Lesnar

[louisvilledawg]

Uncle Rico

https://media1.giphy.com/media/RPx04h8iPidAQ/giphy-downsized.gif


https://media.giphy.com/media/62jVkdWGFhJao/giphy.gif

[sleepy dawg]

Uncle Rico

https://media1.giphy.com/media/RPx04h8iPidAQ/giphy-downsized.gif


https://media.giphy.com/media/62jVkdWGFhJao/giphy.gif

How much you wanna make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains?

[sleepy dawg]

Easily Bo Jackson.

[TopDawg]

Jim Thorpe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe

Exactly what came into my mind when I read the thread title.

[Cowbell]

Bo knows

Ask anyone that had the chance to play baseball with him.

[BeastMan]

Pre injury Bo Jackson is probably the right answer. I’d throw in Carl Lewis and Deon Sanders.

[BeastMan]

And Bully, Babe Ruth is nowhere near the best athlete all-time. He’s arguably the worst athlete that was great at his sport. If we’re throwing out guys who dominated their sport Usain Bolt would be a good pick.

[Jack Lambert]

This guy for giving Hitler the big middle figure. The look on Hitlers face is priceless.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCmvDwDocrw

[sleepy dawg]

And Bully, Babe Ruth is nowhere near the best athlete all-time. He?s arguably the worst athlete that was great at his sport. If we?re throwing out guys who dominated their sport Usain Bolt would be a good pick.
False. U.S. Athlete

[somebodyshotmypaw]

And Bully, Babe Ruth is nowhere near the best athlete all-time. He’s arguably the worst athlete that was great at his sport. If we’re throwing out guys who dominated their sport Usain Bolt would be a good pick.

Bolt is Jamaican I believe. He's not a U.S. athlete.

edited to say that sleepy dawg beat me to it.

[Johnson85]

To me, greatest U.S. Athlete means they'd have a chance to compete at a high level across a multitude of sports. So two sport professional athletes like Bo and Deion should be high on the list. Obviously Michael Jordan and Lebron are high up there.

But I think Michael Jordan has to be in the pole position. He was the best basketball player, was an ok minor league baseball player after not playing since high school, and I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have been a serviceable NFL WR right out of the gate. The only other question is how he would do at sports of pure athleticism. Looking at track and field, he'd presumably be a good long jumper and high jumper and while I assume not a professional sprinter or long distance runner, I suspect he'd be ok at both.

[DCdawg]

If this is sport specific, Michael Phelps has to be on the list.

[BeastMan]

To me, greatest U.S. Athlete means they'd have a chance to compete at a high level across a multitude of sports. So two sport professional athletes like Bo and Deion should be high on the list. Obviously Michael Jordan and Lebron are high up there.

But I think Michael Jordan has to be in the pole position. He was the best basketball player, was an ok minor league baseball player after not playing since high school, and I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have been a serviceable NFL WR right out of the gate. The only other question is how he would do at sports of pure athleticism. Looking at track and field, he'd presumably be a good long jumper and high jumper and while I assume not a professional sprinter or long distance runner, I suspect he'd be ok at both.


That?s my argument for Deon. Best cover CB all-time and was a good MLB player..... AT THE SAME TIME!

[Dawg61]

Muhammad Ali is my 1st choice. Thank you Dad for allowing me to be the only white kid in the Delta to be a fan of the Greatest of all time .

Your dad decides who you're a fan of? Everyone everywhere loves Muhammed Ali.

[Todd4State]

And Bully, Babe Ruth is nowhere near the best athlete all-time. He?s arguably the worst athlete that was great at his sport. If we?re throwing out guys who dominated their sport Usain Bolt would be a good pick.

The fact that Ruth didn't look like an athlete and did what he did makes him even more impressive as an athlete. He changed the game of baseball and was the first true tape measure home run hitter. Never struck out more than 100 times in a season. Out homered entire TEAMS. And a couple of years he had twice as many home runs as the second place home run hitter. He was also good enough to be a HOF caliber pitcher had he stayed at that position- which was probably his best position defensively. He was a pretty good baserunner in the early 1920's before he got overweight in an era when sports nutrition and strength training was pretty much non-existent.

[Johnson85]

The fact that Ruth didn't look like an athlete and did what he did makes him even more impressive as an athlete. He changed the game of baseball and was the first true tape measure home run hitter. Never struck out more than 100 times in a season. Out homered entire TEAMS. And a couple of years he had twice as many home runs as the second place home run hitter. He was also good enough to be a HOF caliber pitcher had he stayed at that position- which was probably his best position defensively. He was a pretty good baserunner in the early 1920's before he got overweight in an era when sports nutrition and strength training was pretty much non-existent.

I assume Babe was one of the all time freaks as far as coordination.

Would have been interesting to see him pick up something like golf to see how good he got and how quickly he got there.

[Johnson85]

That?s my argument for Deon. Best cover CB all-time and was a good MLB player..... AT THE SAME TIME!

That might be a winning argument. He could obviously play both ways in football. Not sure what Jordan's defensive position would be. Safety? Outside LB at 6'6", ~220lbs? Lebron I guess could be a LB or rush end?

He also was a MLB player, which Jordan wasn't. I guess the question is whether Deion could have been a minor league equivalent basketball player. He was all state in basketball in high school; I'm guessing with his athleticism he could have played college basketball if he'd focused on it. I'm guessing he could have played defense at an NBA level pretty quickly, so it's just whether he could run the point or shoot well enough to be an undersized two.

Also, Deion would have been a better build for soccer than Jordan and I assume would be a near world class sprinter.

Deion might be the right answer.

[Lord McBuckethead]

I can agree with that, but I believe LBJ would have been better if figuring other sports.
Basketball - Jordan
Baseball - hmmm not sure, but give it to Jordan
Track and Field - LBJ
Football - LBJ
Soccer - LBJ

Some can argue that maybe LBJ is better at basketball. I say different era and all that.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Dave Winfield is also another candidate.
Dude got drafted in the NFL and NBA without even playing their sports competitively.

That's how good that guy was.

[parabrave]

Jackie Robinson gets my vote. People forget what he did while at UCLA. He was the BO Jackson of his time

[tcdog70]

Two of the best-Hershel Walker and Jimmy Brown--they 2 of the top 5 running backs of all-time.. one was also an all-american-lacrosse player and the the other was on the USA bob-sled team. Plus the were excellent track stars.

[Bothrops]

Bo, and I don't mean Bounds.

[HotMop]

Bruce Jenner

[BhamFour]

Mat Fraser, guy can do anything.

[BeastMan]

Bruce Jenner

Try-athlete as a man and the ESPY courage award as a women. Who else can claim that?**

[BrunswickDawg]

That?s my argument for Deon. Best cover CB all-time and was a good MLB player..... AT THE SAME TIME!

A couple of 2 sport athletes that I always thought were under rated (they were by no means in a "best ever category")-
Brian Jordan and Danny Ainge

Jordan was a very good baseball player, and could have been a very good Strong Safety if he had stuck with it. He had 5 career INTS and played MLB for 15 years.

[NWADAWG]

Jesse Owens.

Won 4 golds in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin in front of Hitler. Must have taken amazing courage to accomplish such a feat.

If we're talking gold medals, Michael Phelps would have to be in the conversation.

Just for fun, I will also throw Tebow into the conversation.

But in reality, I would have to go with Bo. To dominate, not just compete, in 2 professional sports the way he did was pretty amazing. It also shows that he was a great overall athlete, not just great at a particular sport.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Everyone everywhere loves Muhammed Ali.

Everyone my ass. Don't you dare speak for me when it comes to the draft dodging hater of America. I mean don't you freaking dare.

[BeardoMSU]

Everyone my ass. Don't you dare speak for me when it comes to the draft dodging hater of America. I mean don't you freaking dare.

oh boy...

[BeardoMSU]

Everyone my ass. Don't you dare speak for me when it comes to the draft dodging hater of America. I mean don't you freaking dare.

Does the draft dodging-hate apply to everyone, btw?

[Dawg61]

Since it's 2018 and we let men in the women's bathroom, maybe it should be Bruce Jenner.


Everyone my ass. Don't you dare speak for me when it comes to the draft dodging hater of America. I mean don't you freaking dare.

Chill out paw it ain't that serious

[Todd4State]

I assume Babe was one of the all time freaks as far as coordination.

Would have been interesting to see him pick up something like golf to see how good he got and how quickly he got there.

And freakish bat speed on top of the freakish coordination.

[Dawg61]

These threads always turn into the debate between greatest athlete vs greatest accomplished athletes. For those just wanting to name greatest athletes just list off the winners of the decathlon for the last 50 Olympics. Nobody in this thread already named would even qualify for a decathlon let alone win a gold medal. In my opinion the greatest American athlete of all time is Michael Phelps. He has 28 Olympic medals 23 of which are gold that spans over 5 Olympics. That's just absurd.

[calidawg]

Bo Jackson and Lebron James

[fader2103]

Mark Allen

[BeardoMSU]

In no particular order: Ali (without a doubt), LBJ, Olajuwon, Deon, Phelps, weight-under-control-Shaq (literally unstoppable), Bo, pre-****up-Tiger.....

Do you bitches know anything 'bout cyberspace? I second the earlier mention of the greatest QB ever to walk the earth...if only coach had put him in 4thQ, that is....#classof82 #statechamps
https://media.giphy.com/media/5Q9xC9cZdFiOQ/giphy.gif

[BeardoMSU]

I'll also add that if D. Howard had been around in the 80's or 90's, he'd probably be considered an all-time great...but he started in the league at the end of the era of oldschool centers.

[DawgFromOxford]

Just to change it up a little bit, I think you could throw Kelly Slater, Ricky Carmichael, or Richard Petty in the mix if you take non-traditional sports into account.

[BeardoMSU]

if you take non-traditional sports into account.

In that case I submit Daniel Negreanu, Ernie McCracken, Boris Spassky, and Barry Badrinath.**

https://i.imgur.com/de7bx7Q.gif

[BrunswickDawg]

In no particular order: Ali (without a doubt), LBJ, Olajuwon, Deon, Phelps, weight-under-control-Shaq (literally unstoppable), Bo, pre-****up-Tiger.....

Do you bitches know anything 'bout cyberspace? I second the earlier mention of the greatest QB ever to walk the earth...if only coach had put him in 4thQ, that is....#classof82 #statechamps
https://media.giphy.com/media/5Q9xC9cZdFiOQ/giphy.gif

Y'all don't know shit about great athletes - everyone knows Henry Rowengartner is the greatest athlete of all...

https://media.giphy.com/media/l0ExujWxCSWqM4kzm/giphy.gif

[Johnson85]

In no particular order: Ali (without a doubt), LBJ, Olajuwon, Deon, Phelps, weight-under-control-Shaq (literally unstoppable), Bo, pre-****up-Tiger.....

Do you bitches know anything 'bout cyberspace? I second the earlier mention of the greatest QB ever to walk the earth...if only coach had put him in 4thQ, that is....#classof82 #statechamps
https://media.giphy.com/media/5Q9xC9cZdFiOQ/giphy.gif

I think that's a list of greatest players/participants in their sports.

Michael Phelps could do exactly one thing at the highest level. To me, that doesn't put you in the discussion as the greatest athlete. Same with Tiger Woods. He's definitely athletic, but because he's done nothing but play golf since he was like 4, I'm not sure if he'd even be a college athlete at any sport relying more on speed, quickness, and strength.

Olajuwan is a good one though. I almost mentioned him because he looks pretty good with a soccer ball and didn't even pick up a basketball until age 17. Obviously not a lot of 7 foot tall baseball players, but with his coordination, I suspect he would have been good at baseball also for somebody with a strikezone that's 25 sq. feet. With his hands, I assume he would have been a hell of a tight end although he would have been extremely skinny early on.

[Dolphus Raymond]

Ali

[LC Dawg]

Jackie Robinson gets my vote. People forget what he did while at UCLA. He was the BO Jackson of his time

I'm surprised he's not mentioned more in this thread. The man lettered in four sports and won the NCAA long jump championship.
I think Jim Thorpe is at the top of the list but I would put Jackie second, tied with Bo.

[bulldawg28]

Bo Jackson

[Political Hack]

If you didn't play more than 1 pro sport in the modern age I don't know how you'd be considered. Neon and Bo know what I'm talking about. Thorpe is in the running too. Along with Jesse Owens.

[Political Hack]

Just to change it up a little bit, I think you could throw Kelly Slater, Ricky Carmichael, or Richard Petty in the mix if you take non-traditional sports into account.

I prefer Kelly Pickler and AC Slater.