When Tom Brady won his seventh Super Bowl the “greatest of all time” conversation started up again. Certainly Brady is the NFL’s greatest quarterback. But is he the greatest athlete? Everyone has their own opinion. Because of the amount of attention the media gives sports and those who play most everybody is aware of the accomplishments of today’s athletes as well as their shortcomings and mistakes.
Every sport has its Immortals. I am not going to get into The Lebron-Michael Jordan debate in professional basketball. Both men have legendary careers and both are among the greatest athletes in sports history
Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky are certainly at the top of list of the greatest hockey players of all time. And both certainly deserve consideration as the greatest athlete. Professional hockey has produced many great athletes.
In baseball it’s Babe Ruth. The “Sultan of Swat” is the yardstick by which all other players are measured. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Joe DiMaggio are also all incredible players who have become legends.
For boxing it’s Muhammad Ali hands down. Ali brought not only incredible athleticism but great charismatic quality to boxing. There are some who call Sugar Ray Robinson the greatest fighter of all time but I believe it’s Ali.
Among women athletes, perhaps the greatest all-around female athlete that America has produced is Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Track and field, golf, pool — Babe could do it all. She was also a pioneer because her career began when people just did not take women athletes seriously. She fought hard to gain the recognition for women competitors that they deserved.
I cannot include all the candidates for Greatest of All Time here and as I said everyone has their own opinion about who the greatest was in their favorite sport and who the greatest of all was. You can send me an e-mail with your particular choice and I will print some of your choices in the column.
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