Who do you consider the best pure athlete ever?

**TARZAN** · 06-26-2010, 08:25 AM

Today, Lebron James

Yesterday, Michael Jordan

Weeks ago, Jim Brown

-Will

**brendan.9** · 06-26-2010, 08:35 AM

Wayne Gretzky.

**Soltakr** · 06-26-2010, 03:32 PM

Master Chief

**00z28bubba** · 06-26-2010, 04:13 PM

bo jackson, jim brown, and current in sports athletes vernon davis, taylor mays, antonio gates, and chris johnson. you cant teach the speed mays, davis, and johnson have. especially with mayes being 6'3" 230 lbs and davis being 6'3" 250 lbs. mayes easil in the 4.3x 40 range on average, davis clocked at 4.38 40. not to mention the rumors of mays beating chris johnson's 4.29. also these guys shuttle drills also extremely quick for still being big men. endurance can be taught reflexes and speed cant. as far as the nascar thing. sounds like a midday drive with no ac in vegas with a rattle trap that hasnt been washed so you cant see the other cars lights lol jk. athleticism is never overlooked in football. there are many that play multiple sports while in college and do well in both now. though none have played 2 pro sports and been successful in quite a while but college isnt anywhere close to high school where the teams are guaranteed to have walk ons and most walk ons cant play for shit. while college the walk ons can actually play.

**Nhra Firebird** · 06-26-2010, 04:21 PM

Betty White

**Y2KPewterSS** · 06-26-2010, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Nhra Firebird

Betty White

Thats not what your girlfriend says...........

**rajiv1998** · 06-26-2010, 06:09 PM

There are just to many sports to be discussing who is the greatest. There is no single athlete today that is good or equally good in all sports. But yes a lot of the stars today excelled in many sports before they became pro.
Lebron was also good in football (I think soccer to but dont quote me on it)
Jordan was also pretty good in baseball (I am surprised Jeter or A-rod are not on the list)

But I will tell you one think. Most of the stars today didnt do so well in school.

**Y2KPewterSS** · 06-26-2010, 06:27 PM

Originally Posted by rajiv1998

There are just to many sports to be discussing who is the greatest. There is no single athlete today that is good or equally good in all sports. But yes a lot of the stars today excelled in many sports before they became pro.
Lebron was also good in football (I think soccer to but dont quote me on it)
Jordan was also pretty good in baseball (I am surprised Jeter or A-rod are not on the list)

But I will tell you one think. Most of the stars today didnt do so well in school.

I wouldn't throw A-Roid into any stellar athlete discussion, he is an admitted performance enhancer user.

**Tonik** · 06-26-2010, 07:09 PM

I second Jim Brown.

**rajiv1998** · 06-26-2010, 07:09 PM

Originally Posted by Y2KPewterSS

I wouldn't throw A-Roid into any stellar athlete discussion, he is an admitted performance enhancer user.

Yeah true, but thats the only way he was able to get those numbers.

**tpilews** · 06-26-2010, 08:20 PM

**Packy** · 06-27-2010, 07:54 AM

Larry Bird

***doberman 152*** · 06-27-2010, 08:54 AM

IROC is my favorite

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/F3SIDaUoxbGGQ9oO

**krusemj** · 06-27-2010, 09:20 AM

Originally Posted by wicked1

Thier skill in driving is exactly what makes them athletes. How can you call a golfer an athlete? How can you call a basketball player an athlete just because he can jog back and forth bouncing a ball? To be an athlete you need strength, endurance, quick reflexes, and be skilled at whatever activity youre performing. A driver is all of these. Strength...stock cars have only had power steering for a few decades now and occasionaly it still fails. Ever drive a car without power steering? Endurance....Imagine sitting in your car in the sun for 4 or 5 hours without air conditioning. The temps inside the cars reach 110 degrees on a regular basis.Drivers regularly lose up to 10 pounds in fluid especialy during the hot months, in one race.When they talk on tv about the air conditioning in the car all it is is a hose pulling in air from outside. Now imagine driving in that heat in rush hour traffic and the other cars dont have brake lights or turn signals. Which brings me to reflexes. You have to have a sharp eye and quick reflexes to avoid some of the accidents that happen in a split second at over 190 mph. And if you knew anything about the drivers most of them have a regular workout schedule. Thats how Mark Martin is still competitive. And not all but most drivers did play baseball or some other sport in school. Dale Jarrett was a baseball star and Kyle Petty played football. And just because you excell at a sport in school doesnt mean that is your destiny. There is a player on the Cardinals football team who had a baseball scholarship at WVU. All physical attributes are part of being an athlete. But a true athletes most powerful tool is his brain. You may be able to throw a 100mph fastball but youre not an athlete if you cant put it over the plate. Running 100 yards in under 10 seconds does you no good if you cant avoid a tackle. This is growing longer so Im gonna wrap it up. I had to laugh a few months ago when they were calling Tiger Woods one of the worlds greatest athletes. If golf is a sport or an athletic event, then so is a race. Know the difference between football, baseball, basketball and autoracing? Football basketball and baseball only take one ball.

My first car didn't have AC or power steering. I used to spend hundreds of hours cruising in the country during the summer with that thing. So i guess that makes me pretty close to being a athlete the same as a pro driver than right. JK. I would be more willing to believe that drivers were athletes if it was not such a family affair. There is a reason that all those Pettys were pro drivers and a big part of it is not because they had more athletic ability than other drivers it was because of who they were related to.

**importhater81** · 06-27-2010, 09:40 AM

1. Walter Payton

2. Barry Sanders

I would say Michael Jordan, but I lost a little respect for him when he and Reggie Miller got into that slap fight many years ago...two professional athletes that don't know how to throw a punch and fought like a couple of fat women on Jerry Springer..

**tnthub** · 06-27-2010, 10:12 AM

Possibly Carl Lewis... He qualified for five different Olympics which is a very extended period of excellence.

Decades ago there was a television show called Superstars or something like that which featured great athletes from different sports competing in athletic events. The show was a farce (of course) but I remember Joe Frazier barely making it from one end of the pool to another in a swimming competition... It was fun television back in the 1970s when I was a teenager.

Jean Claude Killy also comes to mind as a very gifted and smart athlete...

***doberman 152*** · 06-27-2010, 10:16 AM

I noticed that there all male athletes no female athletes? and Betty White dont count Nhra Firebird

**Mieux97** · 06-27-2010, 10:33 AM

I don't think there is a definitive answer for this one. As it has been said b4, it depends on the sport. It's almost like asking who is the hottest porn star

***doberman 152*** · 06-27-2010, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by Mieux97

I don't think there is a definitive answer for this one. As it has been said b4, it depends on the sport. It's almost like asking who is the hottest porn star

Define "hot"

**02transamce** · 06-27-2010, 11:03 AM

Jim thorpe won 2 olympic gold medals and played professional football,professional baseball,and professional basketball.if you remember jordan tried baseball and was a very average double a player,but the greatest basketball player ever! Btw deion sanders is the only athele to play in a super bowl and world series so I would put primetime in the top 5 best athlete list