Bo Jackson/Best Atlhletes Ever

[MuggsyB]

Has there ever been a guy good enough to play pro football, basketball, and baseball?  Jackson probably could have been an Olympic track & field guy.  I know there have been hs 3 sport A-A's .  I think Danny Ainge was and Winfield?   He's a bit before my time but the general consensus seems to be Bo is the 🐐.  Ridiculous speed for a man that size.....or any size. 

[Uncle Rico]

Has there ever been a guy good enough to play pro football, basketball, and baseball?  Jackson probably could have been an Olympic track & field guy.  I know there have been hs 3 sport A-A's .  I think Danny Ainge was and Winfield?   He's a bit before my time but the general consensus seems to be Bo is the 🐐.  Ridiculous speed for a man that size.....or any size.

Ners

[The Sultan]

Bo certainly had the capability. The problem is that his football injury not only ended his football career, but it certainly limited his baseball one. In the end his overall grade would need to be incomplete.

Winfield made the baseball HoF. Probably could have played in the NBA too - he was a first team all American.

But don't sleep on Deion Sanders.  He made the Pro Football HoF, but also was a decent baseball player as well. His overall WAR was just slightly below Bo's. Didn't have his power but decent hitter with a ton of speed.

[Jockey]

Bosworth.

[tower912]

Winfield was drafted by professional teams in 3 sports.
Dave Debusschere, NBA and MLB
Jim Thorpe
Jesse Owens
Bo Jackson was amazing pre-hip injury.
Deion, too.
Bob Hayes/Willie Gault

[swoopem]

They're no where close to Bo or Deion but Julius Peppers and Donavan McNabb both played college hoops. I think they were both rotation guys too, not bench warmers

[MUBurrow]

While not the physical specimen as a lot of these guys, Charlie Ward doesn't get nearly enough love.  Won the Heisman Trophy in 1992 and had a pretty darn successful NBA career for more than a decade, including being an important piece on the successful mid-90s Knicks.

[wadesworld]

MJ was a decent athlete.  If only he could've hit the curve.

[tower912]

While not the physical specimen as a lot of these guys, Charlie Ward doesn't get nearly enough love.  Won the Heisman Trophy in 1992 and had a pretty darn successful NBA career for more than a decade, including being an important piece on the successful mid-90s Knicks.

Good call.

[MU82]

Jim Brown.

[MuggsyB]

Wilt?

I would think LeBron could have played in the NFL.

Tony Gwynn played PG for SDSU. 

[wadesworld]

MJ was the GOAT in basketball and played some professional baseball.

Dan Marino, John Elway, and Tom Brady were all drafted to the MLB.  Among other NFL players who were as well, but those three were HOF good quarterbacks.

[tower912]

Kyler Murray was drafted top 10 by Oakland Athletics, too.

[forgetful]

These things are tough to really determine, because for a lot of sports, e.g. Basketball/Baseball. The players are not really elite athletes. In Basketball they are largely very good athletes, who happen to be tall and have a unique skillset. In baseball it is often even more about the skill set and being an above average athlete.

People like Bo Jackson are outliers (and many NFL skill players are similar), where they are actually elite athletes.

Before I get overly criticized, as an example for the NBA combine, 22 year old me, would have set the high bar for Bench Press reps (remember they use 185 lbs), and been on the upper end of the vertical leap (34": only E.J Liddel would have exceeded that in 2022), and I would have given any of them a run in the running/agility categories. And I was not an "elite athlete" just very good/above average. The problem was, I was only 6'0" and had the skill set of a SF.

So who fits the Bo Jackson type mold. Well definitely Bob Hayes (might have been the best athlete: NFL HOF, Super Bowl Ring, Olympic Gold Medal), Bo, Herschel Walker, Wilt, Deion, Tyreek Hill, Metcalf are ones that were pretty elite athletes. Jordan stands out as pretty unique amongst basketball players (4.38 40, massive vertical), if he developed the WR skillset he'd have been a #1 draft pick.

Bottom line, outside of the skill positions in the NFL, and Soccer, most professional sports are about being an above average athlete, but having an elite skillset.

[Jockey]

Hand/Eye coordination is one of an elite athlete's biggest traits.

[reinko]

Tower on the greens.

[tower912]

Bwahahahahaha.   But no. 

[dgies9156]

The discussion is interesting because the question is whether the greatest athlete either (a) Could do any sport; or, (b) Mastered his/her own sport to a level that no other human had ever before done.

In effect, a generalist versus a specialist.

In that vein, the greatest athlete I've ever seen is Michael Jordan. He did things in basketball that few people before or since have ever done. From the day he stepped on the court at North Carolina, where he mastered Dean Smith's defensive techniques in a few hours, until the last day he left Grant Park as NBA World Champion (I don't count the ill fated time with the Wizards), nobody surpassed Mr. Jordan's excellence. His greatness was evident in the two years he played baseball -- the Bulls were good in those days but not good enough.

Mr. Jordan comes back and guess what, the Bulls are "good enough."

Mr. Jordan was not only great, he made the people around him greater. That's the mark of a genius.

The closest I ever saw to Mr. Jordan was Michael Phelps and, perhaps, Mark Spitz, in swimming. Both dominated at the inevitably corrupt Olympics at a level never before seen. So much so that not even corrupt, sleazy Olympic officials could take their accomplishments away from them.

I'm sure there are soccer players that may have a similar story, but I don't follow that sport the way I do the "Big 3" in the United States.

[forgetful]

Another one to add to the list, and to highlight why skillset is so important.

Randy Moss: 2x West Virginia Basketball Player of the year (impressive given he played with Jason Williams).

6'4", 210 lbs, insane vertical, low 4.3's for 40 yard dash.

Could have probably went on to a very successful NBA career, chose Football.

Compare to Jordan

6'6", 205 lbs, insane vertical, massive hands, 4.38 40 yard dash.

Would have had a Moss like NFL career if he decided to focus on WR skills. Chose basketball...GOAT.

[withoutbias]

These things are tough to really determine, because for a lot of sports, e.g. Basketball/Baseball. The players are not really elite athletes. In Basketball they are largely very good athletes, who happen to be tall and have a unique skillset. In baseball it is often even more about the skill set and being an above average athlete.

People like Bo Jackson are outliers (and many NFL skill players are similar), where they are actually elite athletes.

Before I get overly criticized, as an example for the NBA combine, 22 year old me, would have set the high bar for Bench Press reps (remember they use 185 lbs), and been on the upper end of the vertical leap (34": only E.J Liddel would have exceeded that in 2022), and I would have given any of them a run in the running/agility categories. And I was not an "elite athlete" just very good/above average. The problem was, I was only 6'0" and had the skill set of a SF.

So who fits the Bo Jackson type mold. Well definitely Bob Hayes (might have been the best athlete: NFL HOF, Super Bowl Ring, Olympic Gold Medal), Bo, Herschel Walker, Wilt, Deion, Tyreek Hill, Metcalf are ones that were pretty elite athletes. Jordan stands out as pretty unique amongst basketball players (4.38 40, massive vertical), if he developed the WR skillset he'd have been a #1 draft pick.

Bottom line, outside of the skill positions in the NFL, and Soccer, most professional sports are about being an above average athlete, but having an elite skillset.

Sick flex, Ners.

[dgies9156]

In our lunch conversation today, this subject was brought up and as part of this discussion, we have left one person off everyone's list:

Serena Williams

Ms. Williams dominated women's tennis as no other woman ever has, before or since. She was an incredible athlete. Period.

Think of what it takes to be a championship tennis player -- power, agility and speed. More so than a wide receiver and on par with a basketball player.

I'm surprised it took so long before anyone thought of Ms. Williams. She's got to be up there with Mr. Jordan.

[MuggsyB]

Nadal probably could have played pro soccer and golf. 

[MuggsyB]

In our lunch conversation today, this subject was brought up and as part of this discussion, we have left one person off everyone's list:

Serena Williams

Ms. Williams dominated women's tennis as no other woman ever has, before or since. She was an incredible athlete. Period.

Think of what it takes to be a championship tennis player -- power, agility and speed. More so than a wide receiver and on par with a basketball pla

I'm surprised it took so long before anyone thought of Ms. Williams. She's got to be up there with Mr. Jordan.

Her serve is perhaps the most dominant weapon in the history of sports.  It's so far and away better than the 2nd best server in women's tennis history (both 1st and 2nd) it's laughable.  It's like a cheetah racing Usain Bolt. 

[MuggsyB]

I apologize for not stating best human athletes ever.  We know what would happen to Phelps vs a Sailfish. 

[Silkk the Shaka]

Brian Jordan played in the NFL then had a long MLB career